Socio-demographic and work related variables as predictor of persistence of back pain and disability among civil servants receiving physiotherapy in tertiary health institutions in Kano state, Nigeria

Abstract

The development and persistence of low back pain may be influenced by several factors which include lifestyle factors, previous pain symptoms, psychological factors, work place factors as well as socio-demographic variables. The focus of this study was to determine the socio-demographic and work related variables as predictor of persistence of back pain and disability among civil servants receiving physiotherapy in tertiary health institutions in Kano, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty nine newly referred low back pain patients for physiotherapy participated in the study. This study was a cross sectional study involving patients that were newly diagnosed of back pain, referred and receiving physiotherapy. The convenience sampling technique was used to select the patients based on the inclusion criteria. The data obtained was analysed using simple percentage and multiple regression for stated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings reveal that all the variables are not significant predictor of persistence of back pain and disability. The study recommended that determinants of low back pain recovery by clinician should include other clinical factors not only reduction in pain intensity.