Evaluation of Work-related Psychosocial and Ergonomics Factors in Relation to Low Back Discomfort in Emergency Unit Nurses

Background and aim: high prevalence of low back pain is oneof the most common problems among nurses. the aim of thisstudy was to evaluate the relation of the intensity of low backdiscomfort to two low back pain contributor factors (ergonomicsrisk factors and psychosocial factors).methods: this cross-sectional survey was conducted on 120emergency unit nurses in esfahan. job content, ergonomicshazards and nordic questionnaire were used in that order fordaily assessment of psychosocial and ergonomics factors and theintensity of low back discomfort. nurses were questioned duringa 5-week period, at the end of each shift work. the final resultswere analyzed with spss software18/pasw by using spearman,mann-whitney and kolmogorov-smirnove test.results: there was a significant relationship between workdemand, job content, social support and intensity of low backdiscomfort (p value < 0.05). but, there was not any link betweenintensity of low back discomfort and job control. also, there wassignificant relationship between intensity of low back discomfortand ergonomics risk factors.conclusion: this study showed an indirect relationship betweenthe intensity of low back discomfort and social support. this studyalso confirmed a direct relationship between the intensity of lowback discomfort and work demand, job content, ergonomics factors(awkward postures (rotating and bending), manual patient handlingand repetitiveness, standing continuously more than 30 min). so, todecrease work related low back discomfort, psychosocial factorsshould be attended in addition to ergonomics factors.