Epidemiology of Low Back Pain and Its Relationship with Physical Activity and BMI in Female Teachers in Ardabil City in 1397

Backgrounds and Low back pain is one of the most common occupational injuries, and teaching is one of the jobs that is associated with the risk of developing low back pain due to the nature of the work. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of the back pain and its relevance to physical activity and body mass index in teachers.
In the current field study, 289 female teachers, aged between 24 and 60, with average body mass index of 26.88, were selected using random and cluster sampling methods. The VAS scale and Baecke questionnaire, respectively, were used to measure the rate of low back pain in different periods of life and physical activity in the participants. Spearman correlation test was used for data analysis.
The results showed that there was a strong and negative relationship between the prevalence of low back pain and physical activity in different life periods (P <0.05). Also, there was a significant relationship between current low back pain and physical activity (ICC=-0.244, P=0.001). The same relationship also was found between low back pain in the past six months and physical activity (ICC=-0/239/0 and P=0.001), between low back pain in the past year and physical activity (ICC=-0.264, P=0.001), and between low back pain during the life expectancy and physical activity (ICC=-0.269; P=0.001). In addition, there was a significant relationship between BMI and prevalence of low back pain during the life (P <0.05).
Conclusion Given a strong relationship between the prevalence of low back pain in different periods of life and physical activity, as well as the positive relationship between low back pain and BMI, it seems that having a regular exercise can lead to better health in the lumbar region of female teachers.