Prevalence of low back pain among peasant farmers in a rural community in South West Nigeria.

This study is a survey conducted in Iju-Odo rural community of Ondo State in South West Nigeria to determine the prevalence and risk factors for low back pain amongst peasant farmers. Five hundred peasant farmers were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. A questionnaire was administered which sought information on demographic characteristics, presence of low back pain in the last 12 months prior to the time of the study and the duration, severity of low back pain and its effect on farming activity. The five hundred peasant farmers that participated in this study were 276 men (55.2%) and 224 women (44.8%). Three hundred and sixty two peasant farmers (72.4% of the population) had low back pain in the last 12 months prior to the time of this study, of which two hundred and three (73.5%) were males and one hundred and fifty nine (71.0%) were females peasant farmers having low back pain. The nature of onset of low back pain was that of gradual onset in 57.5%. One hundred and eighty-eight (51.9%) respondents indicated that low back pain reduced their farming workload, while one hundred and twenty four (34.3%) respondents were prevented from going to farm because they could not walk, resulting in 675 work days being lost by one hundred and twenty one (24.2%) peasant farmers in the last one-year with a mean of 5.6 days lost. This study concluded that low back pain prevalence is high among peasant farmers, with higher prevalence in males compared with females (P<0.05). The prevalence also increased with age (P<0.05). Years of farming was found to have a significant influence on the prevalence of low back pain (P<0.05) with prevalence of low back pain increasing as years of farming increases. Low back pain was found to be a cause of work absenteeism in this working population.