Comparing the Effectiveness of the Two Different Education Methods on Musculoskeletal Pain and Functional Disability among Teachers living in Savojbolagh City, Iran

Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the most common Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). Teachers are among those who are at risk for the MSDs due to their occupation. Education. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two education methods in reducing pain and functional disability in two groups of teachers.
Methods and Materials: In this experimental study two questionnaires of VAS, to measure the pain severity, and the Oswestry Disability (ODI) questionnaire for measuring functional disability were distributed among the 175 teachers with LBP as pre-test. Participants were randomly divided into three groups: one control group with 35 participants and two experimental groups with 70 participants. One of the experimental groups received education by face-to-face lecturing and the other one with a tutorial CD. Eventually, 6 weeks after the intervention, post-test was conducted.
The mean value for of pain and functional disability was not significantly reduced in the control group. But in both intervention groups, there was a significant decrease in pain and functional disability. The pain intensity in face-to-face education group decreased from 5.13 ± 1.54 to 3.79 ± 1.76 and in CD education group from 5.11 ± 1.57 to 2.63 ± 1.56, indicating that the most pain reduction was in the CD e education group. The mean of functional disability was reduced in face-to-face education groups (from 29.60 ± 10.97 to 20.74 ± 10.16 and in CD education group from 33.06 ± 13.04 to 19.43 ± 12.47.
CD education method was more effective than face to face education in reducing back pain. Education. Therefore, considering the low cost but high effectiveness of CD education methods, it is recommended that this method be used more for teacher's education.