Low back pain prevalence amongst industrial workers in the private sector in Oyo State, Nigeria.

A cross sectional study was conducted in order to investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in industrial workers and the association between certain job--related tasks and the prevalence of low back pain. Data on 515 males and 89 females who were workers in the selected industries in the private sector in Ibadan City Oyo State Nigeria were collected using a self administered questionnaire and analyzed. The point prevalence of LBP in the workers was 59.7 percent while a 12 month prevalence of LBP was 59.5 percent. Job activities which involved sitting (P=0.03) and lifting (P=0.006) were significantly associated with occurrence of low back pain respectively while those which involved standing (P=0.61) and vibration (P=0.12) were not associated with the occurrence of LBP among the workers. Physical exercise or lack of it was not associated with LBP (P=0.96). Lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption (P=0.80), cigarette smoking (P=0.92) and tobacco snuff taking (P=0.26) were not associated with occurrence of LBP. In conclusion, the job related tasks that predisposed the industrial workers to low back pain included sitting and lifting activities while those of standing and vibration did not have any significant effect on the prevalence of LBP.