A survey of the perspectives of the female nursing personnel regarding the prevention of low back pain and its appropriate medical treatments

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the perspectives of the female nurses regarding the prevention and treatment of low back pain (LBP).
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 222 female nurses working in Borujen Hospital (situated in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province of Iran) in 2015 selected using simple random sampling. The data were collected using a self-designed questionnaire consisting of 29 items designed in terms of personal information, self-care, awareness, and prevention of LBP. The validity and reliability of this questionnaire was confirmed.
About 93.7% of the participants of this study suffered from LBP with a majority of them (21.6%) reporting the monthly episodes of LBP. In terms of actions taken by the nurses when experiencing LBP, it was found that 58.1% of them used to rest during the LBP episodes while 36.5% of them preferred to seek care from a physician, especially a general practitioner. In general, the best-reported ways to ease the LBP were as follows: resting (80.2%), going to doctor (32.4%), and physical exercises (32%), especially practice of back-strengthening exercises. Nearly 53.2% of the nurses proposed that when experiencing LBP, the analgesics should be taken while 44.6% and 1.4% of them believed the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants or drugs can be helpful, respectively.
It is very important for the nursing personnel to equip themselves with some information regarding how to manage LBP properly as well as its respective preventive measures so that they can create a healthy work environment for themselves.