The Relationship of Low Back Pain with Psychosocial Factors and Psychological Stress in Nurses in Amol Hospitals

The nurses are known as a high risk group for occupational low back pain. This study was carried out to determine the relationship between back pain with psychosocial factors and psychological stress in nurses in Amol hospitals. In this analytical study 400 nurses working in Amol hospitals completed a questionnaire including 3 parts; demographic data, psychosocial stress related to work and work related psychological stress. Results of the crude and adjusted odds ratio were expressed at 95% confidence interval. 324 (81%) of the participating nurses have experienced low back pain at least once over the last year. Their average age of the participants was 32.4+6.2 years, the average height was 166.7+ 8.7cm and the average weight was 67.7+9kg. Among the demographic factors, factors such as gender (female) (OR=2.8), regular exercise (OR=0.4), increased height per centimeter (OR=1.06) and increased weight per/kg (OR=1.04) had statistically significant relationships with back pain. Among the work-related psychosocial factors, it was observed that for one degree of increase in the intensity of a dissatisfaction with colleagues, the likelihood of back pain would increase up to 80%. As for the work-related stressful factors for each degree of increase in the scale (always, often, sometimes and never) of hasting to work, the likelihood of back pain would decrease up to 40%. Back pain is one of the most serious problems of the nursing job which is associated with psychological stress at work. Therefore, in order to reduce and prevent the complications resulting from back pain, it seems necessary to adjust and improve the psychosocial environment of the hospital and to train stress coping techniques to the workers.