JSWMC

Introduction: Low Back Pain (LBP) is a common health problem worldwide and it has profound negative effect on the quality of life, productivity and work performances. Hospital employees seem to have higher rates of LBP compared to general population. This study was aimed to identify the prevalence of LBP among the physicians of Sylhet Women’s Medical College Hospital. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the physicians of Sylhet Women’s Medical College Hospital with a self-administered questionnaire during January of 2020. Along with demographic, lifestyle and working hour information the Oswestry Disability Index was used to measure the disability. Data was analyzed by SPSS v17.0. Questionnaire was anonymous. Participation in the study was voluntary. Results: The response rate was 81.1 percent. Among the 161 respondents, mean age of the respondent was 34.7 years and more than half (52.8%) was female. About three fourths (72.0%) had experienced low back pain ever in life. Prevalence of low back pain in the last year was 60.2 percent. Most of the physicians were married (77.6%). Monthly income was fifty thousand taka or below among two thirds (62.7%) of the respondents. Half of the physicians (50.3%) were either overweight or obese. Only one third of the physicians (32.9%) have had the habit of regular physical exercise. The socio-demographic variables, working hours of the physicians and BMI was not significantly related with LBP. Among the physicians who had suffered from LBP in the last year (97), most of them (91.8%) suffered from minimal disability, 6.2 percent suffered from moderate disability and 2.1 percent from severe disability. Conclusion: About two third physicians suffered from LBP and most of them had minimal or none disability. Recommendation: Risk factors of the low back pain among the physicians should be identified with larger study.