Harcourt Somiari Lucky, Raphael John Edoka
Department of Surgery, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Niger Med J. 2023 Jul 2;64(3):408-414. eCollection 2023 May-Jun.
Low back pain (LBP) is the 5th leading cause of physician consultation and is a significant cause of lost workforce hours with tremendous economic implications in every society. These findings suggest that medical practice in Nigeria is a potential risk factor for developing low back pain. Few studies have attempted to evaluate the medical specialties as risk factors for LBP. This study evaluates the prevalence of low back pain among various Specialist Medical Consultants in a typical Teaching Hospital.
This is a descriptive cross-sectional study performed using self-administered questionnaires. The study population comprised Specialist Medical Consultants working at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The questionnaires were distributed among consultant physicians regardless of their departments. Information about their age, sex, medical specialties, presence frequency and severity of LBP; interventions received, and outcome were obtained.
There were 98 respondents, 56 (57%) males and 42 (43%) females who participated in the study. The modal age of the respondents is the 41-50 years age group (45%). 44%, were from the surgical specialties (surgery, anaesthesia, oral and maxillofacial surgery, ophthalmology); 33% from the internal and family medicine specialties; (11) 11% pediatricians and (12) 12.2 % were pathologists. The prevalence of low back pain was 60.2%, slightly more prevalent in males (62%) than females (58%). Of those who have experienced low back pain, 35.6% suffered mild pain (VAS 1-4), 49% suffered moderate pain (VAS 5-7) while 17% suffered severe pain (VAS 8-10). The majority (57.6%) had suffered more than 3 episodes of LBP while 84.8% sought treatment for their symptom mostly using NSAIDS.
LBP has a high prevalence among Specialist Medical Consultants in UPTH potentially affecting patient treatment and student education. Most consultants take NSAIDS as treatment for low back pain.
腰痛是患者就医的第五大主要原因，也是导致劳动力工时损失的重要原因，在每个社会都具有巨大的经济影响。这些发现表明，尼日利亚的医疗实践是引发腰痛的一个潜在风险因素。很少有研究试图评估医学专科作为腰痛的风险因素。本研究评估了一家典型教学医院中各类专科医学顾问的腰痛患病率。
这是一项采用自填式问卷进行的描述性横断面研究。研究人群包括在里弗斯州哈科特港大学教学医院工作的专科医学顾问。问卷分发给顾问医生，不分科室。收集了他们的年龄、性别、医学专科、腰痛的出现频率和严重程度；接受的干预措施以及结果等信息。
共有98名受访者参与研究，其中男性56人（57%），女性42人（43%）。受访者的年龄众数在41 - 50岁年龄组（45%）。44%来自外科专科（外科、麻醉科、口腔颌面外科、眼科）；33%来自内科和家庭医学专科；11%是儿科医生，12.2%是病理学家。腰痛的患病率为60.2%，男性（62%）略高于女性（58%）。在经历过腰痛的人中，35.6%遭受轻度疼痛（视觉模拟评分法[VAS]为1 - 4），49%遭受中度疼痛（VAS为5 - 7），而17%遭受重度疼痛（VAS为8 - 10）。大多数人（57.6%）经历过3次以上的腰痛发作，84.8%的人主要使用非甾体抗炎药（NSAIDS）来治疗他们的症状。
在哈科特港大学教学医院的专科医学顾问中，腰痛患病率很高，这可能会影响患者治疗和学生教育。大多数顾问使用非甾体抗炎药来治疗腰痛。
