Work-Related Factors Associated with Low Back Pain (LBP) among Secondary and Primary schoolteachers in Jordan

Abstract

Background: LBP is a common disorder among schoolteachers; it is mainly associated with spent physical activities like standing or sitting postures and lifting.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for low back pain (LBP) in teachers and to evaluate the association of individual and occupational characteristics with the prevalence of LBP. This study sought mainly to investigate the LBP prevalence among governmental secondary and primary schools teachers in Jordan.

Methods: the schoolteachers (4909) were randomly selected to respond on self-administrated questionnaire. SPSS was used to analyze the study results. 

Results: The results indicated high rates of LBP among school teachers (92.3%). The prevalence of LBP among schoolteachers is associated to nature of workplace that requires physical activity. LBP is statically affected by the existence of back pain, age, weight, gender, pregnancy, Lifting loads , main body posture during work, and stage that the teacher teaches (Al-Zaqeba& AL-Rashdan, 2020a). The nature of the schoolteachers work oblige the teachers to long standing hours, as well to other physical activities like lifting, walking, and sitting. These physical activities may cause higher average of LBP. The result could be explained due to the lack of education given to the workers about the factors that cause LBP and the healthy postures. The results also indicated that higher LBP incidence among primary schoolteachers. This result is due to the amount of pressure in the primary schools. If the teachers do not maintain a normal posture in the workplace, they are vulnerable to higher LBP. The results indicated that LBP is associated with the working hours.