Low back pain among academic staff at a university in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is a common occupational health problem among academic staff, often associated with prolonged sitting, poor ergonomics and psychosocial stress. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of LBP and its associated factors among academic staff at a university in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among academic staff at the University of Gondar (Gondar, Ethiopia) using simple random sampling from March to April 2021. A total of 607 workers participated in the study. A self-administered, structured Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to assess the occurrences of LBP over the past 12 months. Data were analysed using Stata (V.14), and associations between variables were examined using binary logistic regression. Results are presented as adjusted ORs (AOR) with 95% CIs, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. The prevalence of LBP in the last 7 days was 44.8% (95% CI 40.8% to 48.86%), and over the past 12 months it was 55.68% (95% CI 51.63% to 59.68%). A significant difference in 7-day prevalence was observed between female and male participants (39.86% vs 15.81%, respectively; χ² = 0.887; p=0.02). In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, being female was associated with higher odds of LBP (AOR=1.72; 95% CI 1.15 to 2.57; p=0.009), as was working more than 8 hours per day (AOR=1.45; 95% CI 1.02 to 2.10; p=0.038), physical inactivity (AOR=1.88; 95% CI 1.30 to 2.72; p=0.001) and prolonged standing during work hours (AOR=1.63; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.59; p=0.036). The prevalence of LBP among academic staff is high. Targeted interventions are recommended to address LBP, focusing on gender-sensitive strategies to mitigate the additional burden on female staff, time management to reduce long working hours and workplace programmes to limit sedentary behaviour, encourage physical activity and improve ergonomic awareness.