Disability Symptoms Among Professionally Active Nurses Caused by Back Pain

Introduction. Back pain is a medico-socio-economic problem that affects about 90% of the population. People associated with medical professional are particularly exposed to frequent perceived back pain, which translates into their daily functioning. Aim. The aim of the study is to assess spinal pain in a group of professionally active nurses and their impact on everyday functioning. Material and Methods. The study included a group of 100 nurses from the Provincial Children’s Hospital in Bydgoszcz, who are professionally active. The diagnostic survey method was used, while the tools were: author’s questionnaire, VAS scale and Revised Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Scale Questionnaire (Polish version). Data has been prepared statistically. The level of p ≤ 0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant. Results. In the group of nurses who have work experience within 11–20 years, the average pain perceived was at the level of 3.21 points, while among women with seniority over 21 years, the average pain perceived was about 4.5 points. Pain ailments were also experienced by nurses working in the profession less than 10 years — the average of 1.62 points. The seniority of the studied women remained statistically significant, the average correlation with the pain results (p = 0.000). Conclusions. The problem of pain in nurses is a frequent phenomenon. Seniority in the profession is related to the occurrence of pain in nurses, i.e. the higher the seniority, the greater the perception of pain, which translates into their functioning. The place and system of nurses’ work are not factors significantly affecting the occurrence of back pain. (JNNN 2019;8(1):16–22)