Knowledge and use of ergonomic principles in psyhicians and nurses with low back pain

Introduction
Medical professionals frequently experience low back pain as a result of mechanical overload caused by prolonged standing, performing activities in a position of trunk flexion, extended work hours and physically stressful duties. The above-mentioned stresses, when they exceed the adaptive capacity of the tissues, can lead to pain, degenerative changes and even disability.

Material and methods
114 employees, including 48 (42%) physicians and 66 (58%) nurses, were examined. Their average age was 42.08±9.43 years, and the average years of work experience was 17.16±10.36 years. To assess the occurrence of low back pain, a standardized Oswestry Questionnaire was used, while for assessments of ergonomics an original questionnaire was used.

Results
95 respondents (83.33%), including 31 physicians (64.58%) and 64 nurses (96.96%), did not apply the principles of ergonomics in the work environment. The most common reasons were that working conditions were not conducive to ergonomic approaches to their duties and that there were not enough medical personnel to make ergonomic choices possible. All subjects experienced back pain. The Oswestry Questionnaire was used to determine the degree of disability caused by back pain. Among the physicians, the majority of respondents (n=35, 73%) experienced a small degree of disability, while the nurses experienced a moderate amount of disability (n= 35, 53%).

Conclusions
Most of the examined personnel did not apply principles of ergonomics and had incomplete knowledge in this area. All subjects were burdened with low back pain, one of every ten of them were seriously affected. The results indicate the need to provide ergonomics education to medical personnel.