Prevalence of Low Back Pain in Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialists: A Cross-sectional Study
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Published:
Feb 15, 2024
Keywords:
Low back pain, orthopedics and traumatology specialists, epidemiology, prevalence
Main Article Content
Abstract
Introduction: Up to 85% of the population will suffer at least one episode of low back pain throughout their lives. It is one of the most common complaints among healthcare workers, with a reported annual prevalence of 77%. Orthopedic surgeons have multiple risk factors for developing this condition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of low back pain and identify possible contributing factors in a sample of orthopedic surgeons.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational analytical study on low back pain in Orthopedics and Traumatology specialists who are members of the AAOT. Over the course of one month, a questionnaire was sent weekly.
Results: 393 responses were received, the predominant sex was male, and the mean age was 46 years. More than 50% of the sample reported being overweight, whereas 43% reported being sedentary. The average self-perceived work stress was 7. 86% of respondents reported at least one episode in the previous year, with 38% reporting more than four.
Conclusions: The prevalence of low back pain was high. Acute episodes predominated, and complementary studies were not necessary. Less than 10% took time off work. Sedentary habits, comorbidities, and age were all associated with an increased likelihood of suffering >2 episodes of pain.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational analytical study on low back pain in Orthopedics and Traumatology specialists who are members of the AAOT. Over the course of one month, a questionnaire was sent weekly.
Results: 393 responses were received, the predominant sex was male, and the mean age was 46 years. More than 50% of the sample reported being overweight, whereas 43% reported being sedentary. The average self-perceived work stress was 7. 86% of respondents reported at least one episode in the previous year, with 38% reporting more than four.
Conclusions: The prevalence of low back pain was high. Acute episodes predominated, and complementary studies were not necessary. Less than 10% took time off work. Sedentary habits, comorbidities, and age were all associated with an increased likelihood of suffering >2 episodes of pain.
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How to Cite
Besse, M., Ricciardi, G. A., Cubecino, A. E., Bulos, C. E., Rosado Pardo, J. A., Ricciardi, D. O., & Sarotto, A. J. (2024). Prevalence of Low Back Pain in Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialists: A Cross-sectional Study. Revista De La Asociación Argentina De Ortopedia Y Traumatología, 89(1), 30-41. https://doi.org/10.15417/issn.1852-7434.2024.89.1.1815
Section
Clinical Research
Copyright (c) 2024 Revista de la Asociación Argentina de Ortopedia y Traumatología
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https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181657df7
19. Scheidt S, Ossendorf R, Prangenberg C, Wirtz DC, Burger C, Kabir K, et al. The impact of lead aprons on
posture of orthopaedic surgeons. Der Einfluss von Röntgenschürzen auf die Körperhaltung von Orthopäden und
Unfallchirurgen. Z Orthop Unfall 2022;160(1):56-63. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1219-8453
20. Melloh M, Elfering A, Stanton TR, Käser A, Salathé CR, Barz T, et al. Who is likely to develop persistent low back pain? A longitudinal analysis of prognostic occupational factors. Work 2013;46(3):297-311.
https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-131672
21. Alnaami I, Awadalla NJ, Alkhairy M, Alburidy S, Alqarni A, Algarni A, et al. Prevalence and factors associated with low back pain among health care workers in southwestern Saudi Arabia. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2019;20(1):56. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-019-2431-5
22. Jensen JN, Holtermann A, Clausen T, Mortensen OS, Carneiro IG, Andersen LL. The greatest risk for low-back pain among newly educated female health care workers; body weight or physical work load? BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2012;13:87. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-13-87
23. Mirtz TA, Greene L. Is obesity a risk factor for low back pain? An example of using the evidence to answer a
clinical question. Chiropr Osteopat 2005;13(1):2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1340-13-2
24. Mehrdad R, Shams-Hosseini NS, Aghdaei S, Yousefian M. Prevalence of low back pain in health care workers and comparison with other occupational categories in Iran: A systematic review. Iran J Med Sci 2016;41(6):467-78.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27853326/
25. Terzi R, Altın F. Hastane çalışanlarında bel ağrısı sıklığı, bel ağrısının kronik yorgunluk sendromu ve mesleki
faktörler ile ilişkisi [The prevalence of low back pain in hospital staff and its relationship with chronic fatigue
syndrome and occupational factors]. Agri 2015;27(3):149-54. https://doi.org/10.5505/agri.2015.26121
26. Grant KMK, Vo T, Tiong LU. The painful truth: work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Australian surgeons.
Occup Med (Lond) 2020;12:60-3. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqz155
27. Cacciatori B, Schiattarella R, Larese Filon F. Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among young orthopedics during the surgical practice: an intervention study. Med Lav 2022;113(5):e2022041.
https://doi.org/10.23749/mdl.v113i5.13212
28. Xu AL, Covarrubias OG, Yakkanti RR, Sotsky RB, Aiyer AA. The biomechanical burden of orthopaedic procedures and musculoskeletal injuries sustained by orthopaedic surgeons: A systematic review. JBJS Rev
2023;11(1):e22.00202. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.RVW.22.00202
2):S192-S300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-006-1072-1
2. Ehrlich GE. Low back pain. Bull World Health Organ 2003;81(9):671-6. PMID: 14710509
3. Pierobon A, Villalba F, Ferreira G, Maher CG. Insights into low back pain management in Argentina. Braz J Phys
Ther 2021;25(6):659-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjpt.2021.02.005
4. Noli EMD, Aguirre P, Bertozzi M, Carroll S, Castro D, Covello G, et al. Prevalencia de los motivos de consulta y
las características de los sujetos en un consultorio externo de kinesiología de un hospital público de la Ciudad de
Buenos Aires. AJRPT 2020;2(3):12-21. https://doi.org/10.58172/ajrpt.v2i3.101
5. Alzidani TH, Alturkistani AM, Alzahrani BS, Aljuhani AM, Alzahrani KM. Prevalence and risk factors of low back
pain among Taif surgeons. Saudi J Health Sci 2018;7(3):172-7. https://doi.org/10.4103/sjhs.sjhs_70_18
6. Alsultan A, Alahmed S, Alzahrani A, Alzahrani F, Masuadi E. Comparison of musculoskeletal pain prevalence
between medical and surgical specialty residents in a major hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. J Musculoskeletal
Surg Res 2018;2(4):161-6. https://doi.org/10.4103/jmsr.jmsr_36_18
7. Al-Ruwaili B, Khalil T. Prevalence and associated factors of low back pain among physicians working at King
Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Open Access Maced J Med Sci 2019;7(17):2807-13.
https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.787
8. Swank KR, Furness JE, Baker E, Gehrke CK, Rohde R. A survey of musculoskeletal disorders in the orthopaedic
surgeon: Identifying injuries, exacerbating workplace factors, and treatment patterns in the orthopaedic community. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev 2022;6(5):e20.00244. https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-20-00244
9. Lucasti C, Maraschiello M, Slowinski J, Kowalski J. Prevalence of back and neck pain in orthopaedic surgeons in
Western New York. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev 2022;6(1):e21.00252. https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-21-00252
10. Jeong M, García LR, Saucedo MEM, Ramos MJF, Alva RX. Lumbalgia ocupacional en médicos residentes del
Hospital Ángeles Mocel. Acta Med Grupo Angeles 2021;19(2):186-9. https://doi.org/10.35366/100440
11. Balagué F, Mannion AF, Pellisé F, Cedraschi C. Non-specific low back pain. Lancet 2012;379(9814):482-91.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60610-7
12. Organización Mundial de la Salud. Actividad física. Disponible en:
https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity [Consulta: 8 de agosto, 2023]
13. Allespach H, Sussman M, Bolanos J, Atri E, Schulman CI. Practice longer and stronger: maximizing the physical well-being of surgical residents with targeted ergonomics training. J Surg Educ 2020;77(5):1024-7.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.04.001. Erratum in J Surg Educ 2020;77(6):1656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.09.016
14. Wyatt RW, Lin CC, Norheim EP, Przepiorski D, Navarro RA. Occupation-related cervical spine disease in
orthopaedic surgeons. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2020;28(17):730-6. https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOS-D-19-00834
15. Wauben LS, van Veelen MA, Gossot D, Goossens RH. Application of ergonomic guidelines during minimally
invasive surgery: a questionnaire survey of 284 surgeons. Surg Endosc 2006;20(8):1268-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-005-0647-y
16. Epstein S, Sparer EH, Tran BN, Ruan QZ, Dennerlein JT, Singhal D, et al. Prevalence of work-related
musculoskeletal disorders among surgeons and interventionalists: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA
Surg 2018;153(2):e174947. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2017.4947
17. Szeto GPY, Ho P, Ting ACW, Poon JTC, Cheng SWK, Tsang RCC, et al. Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms
in surgeons. J Occup Rehabil 2009;19:175-84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-009-9176-1
18. Landry MD, Raman SR, Sulway C, Golightly YM, Hamdan E. Prevalence and risk factors associated with low back pain among health care providers in a Kuwait hospital. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2008;33(5):539-45.
https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181657df7
19. Scheidt S, Ossendorf R, Prangenberg C, Wirtz DC, Burger C, Kabir K, et al. The impact of lead aprons on
posture of orthopaedic surgeons. Der Einfluss von Röntgenschürzen auf die Körperhaltung von Orthopäden und
Unfallchirurgen. Z Orthop Unfall 2022;160(1):56-63. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1219-8453
20. Melloh M, Elfering A, Stanton TR, Käser A, Salathé CR, Barz T, et al. Who is likely to develop persistent low back pain? A longitudinal analysis of prognostic occupational factors. Work 2013;46(3):297-311.
https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-131672
21. Alnaami I, Awadalla NJ, Alkhairy M, Alburidy S, Alqarni A, Algarni A, et al. Prevalence and factors associated with low back pain among health care workers in southwestern Saudi Arabia. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2019;20(1):56. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-019-2431-5
22. Jensen JN, Holtermann A, Clausen T, Mortensen OS, Carneiro IG, Andersen LL. The greatest risk for low-back pain among newly educated female health care workers; body weight or physical work load? BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2012;13:87. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-13-87
23. Mirtz TA, Greene L. Is obesity a risk factor for low back pain? An example of using the evidence to answer a
clinical question. Chiropr Osteopat 2005;13(1):2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1340-13-2
24. Mehrdad R, Shams-Hosseini NS, Aghdaei S, Yousefian M. Prevalence of low back pain in health care workers and comparison with other occupational categories in Iran: A systematic review. Iran J Med Sci 2016;41(6):467-78.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27853326/
25. Terzi R, Altın F. Hastane çalışanlarında bel ağrısı sıklığı, bel ağrısının kronik yorgunluk sendromu ve mesleki
faktörler ile ilişkisi [The prevalence of low back pain in hospital staff and its relationship with chronic fatigue
syndrome and occupational factors]. Agri 2015;27(3):149-54. https://doi.org/10.5505/agri.2015.26121
26. Grant KMK, Vo T, Tiong LU. The painful truth: work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Australian surgeons.
Occup Med (Lond) 2020;12:60-3. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqz155
27. Cacciatori B, Schiattarella R, Larese Filon F. Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among young orthopedics during the surgical practice: an intervention study. Med Lav 2022;113(5):e2022041.
https://doi.org/10.23749/mdl.v113i5.13212
28. Xu AL, Covarrubias OG, Yakkanti RR, Sotsky RB, Aiyer AA. The biomechanical burden of orthopaedic procedures and musculoskeletal injuries sustained by orthopaedic surgeons: A systematic review. JBJS Rev
2023;11(1):e22.00202. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.RVW.22.00202