Neck/shoulder pain and low back pain among school teachers in China, prevalence and risk factors

BMC Public Health

Liping Li¹  Fengying Liu¹  Pengying Yue¹ 

[1]Injury Prevention Research Center, Medical College of Shantou University, 22 XinLing Road, Shantou, 515041, China

关键词: Teachers;    Low back pain;    Neck and shoulder pain;    Risk factors;   

Others  :  1163081
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-12-789

 received in 2012-04-21, accepted in 2012-09-13,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

School teachers represent an occupational group among which there appears to be a high prevalence of neck and/or shoulder pain (NSP) and low back pain (LBP). Epidemiological data on NSP and LBP in Chinese teachers are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for NSP and LBP among primary, secondary and high school teachers.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study of teachers from 7 schools, information on participant demographics, work characteristics, occupational factors and musculoskeletal symptoms and pain were collected.

Results

Among 893 teachers, the prevalence of NSP and LBP was 48.7% and 45.6% respectively. There was significant association between the level and prevalence of NSP and LBP among teachers in different schools. The prevalence of NSP among female teachers was much higher than that for males. Self-reported NSP was associated with physical exercise (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.86), prolonged standing (1.74, 1.03 to 2.95), sitting (1.76, 1.23 to 2.52) and static posture (2.25, 1.56 to 3.24), and uncomfortable back support (1.77, 1.23 to 2.55). LBP was more consistently associated with twisting posture (1.93, 1.30 to 2.87), uncomfortable back support (1.62, 1.13 to 2.32) and prolonged sitting (1.42, 1.00 to 2.02) and static posture (1.60, 1.11 to 2.31).

Conclusions

NSP and LBP are common among teachers. There were strong associations with different individual, ergonomic, and occupational factors.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Yue et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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