#0067 Prevalence and associated occupational factors of low back pain among the bank employees in Dhaka City
Investigating the prevalence of low back pain in Bangladeshi bank employees
Many white-collar jobs involve sitting at a desk and working with computers for long hours, so it is not entirely surprising that low back pain (LBP) is fast becoming a health concern for workplaces. Its effects include physical and mental discomfort which can lead to an increase in sick leave and even early retirement. Previous studies have found that LBP is much more common in low-income countries than higher-income ones and in professions like banking, where employees spend much time in sedentary positions, exacerbating the risks of many long-term health conditions.
We decided to investigate the extent of LBP and the occupational factors that accompany it in Bangladeshi bank employees. Nearly 600 full-time staff from 32 banks responded to our survey which also collected data on age, gender, body mass index (BMI), marital status, smoking habits and physical activities, among a host of other variables.
We found that a third of bank employees reported having LBP, a finding consistent with population studies in other developing countries. Workers who had served for more than 10 years complained more about LBP than those who had served for less than five years. Long office hours correlated with an increase in LBP while older employees were at greater risk in developing LBP. Indeed, those aged 50 years or over reported suffering LBP more frequently than young adults. A positive correlation was observed between obesity and increased LBP complaints, and between marital status and LBP, where married workers were more likely to suffer its ill effects.
More women employees reported having LBP than men, which was confirmed by our analysis. Bank workers also engaged in inadequate physical activities and a substantial correlation between physical movement and LBP was observed. This indicates that light physical exercise over a long period of time can reduce the likelihood of LBP complaints.
Our results show that LBP’s emergence in sedentary workers is tied to long working hours and several years of employment with negative affects like increased obesity. Employers must look into making workplaces healthier by allowing older at-risk workers to work from home and allowing time for employees to engage in physical activities during the day. Physicians and researchers can also play a part in exploring more cost-effective and personalized guidelines to prevent and treat LBP in older people.
Link to the original journal article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1348-9585.12131
Title of the paper:
Prevalence and associated occupational factors of low back pain among the bank employees in Dhaka City
Authors:
Mohammad Ali, Gias U. Ahsan, Ahmed Hossain
