International Journal of
Nursing and Midwifery

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Nurs. Midwifery
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2456
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJNM
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 213

Article in Press

The prevalence, risk factors and coping measures of back pain among nurses in Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Elizabeth Urenna Ike and Janet Oluwatoyin Olawumi*

Back pain is one of the leading skeletal health problem worldwide and a common complaint among nurses. This study assessed the prevalence, risk factors and coping measures of back pain among nurses in Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun state. A descriptive cross-sectional studies in which self-structured questionnaire were used to obtain information from 228 respondents conveniently selected from all units of nursing department was done. SPSS version 20 software was used for analysis and results were presented with frequency tables and percentages while chi square and t-test were used for hypotheses testing. The respondents comprised of 68 male (29.8%) and 160 female (70.2%) nurses with mean age of 35.5±17.40 years. About half (113, 49.56%) of the respondents had 6 to10 years’ experience. Prevalence of back pain was higher with nurses working in surgical ward (45.2%). Major work-related activities that cause back pain among respondents are, maintaining a particular position for a long period (187, 82.02%) and lifting of patients (185, 81.14%). Main back pain coping strategies adopted by the respondents are, asking for assistance when handling patients (193, 84.6%), modifying work procedures (191, 83.8%) and regular exercise (173, 75.9%). There were significant relationships between the prevalence of back pain and marital status/number of children; years of experience and the coping strategies adopted (Significant at 0.05 probability level). The study concludes that there is high prevalence of back pain among nurses at FMC, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria and diverse coping strategies are adopted. Educational programmes on prevention and coping strategies for back pain are recommended.

Keywords: Prevalence, risk factors, coping measures, back pain, nursing.