Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Oct 9:4:22.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-4-22.

Is undergraduate physiotherapy study a risk factor for low back pain? A prevalence study of LBP in physiotherapy students

Leah Jane Nyland  1 , Karen Anne Grimmer
Affiliations

Is undergraduate physiotherapy study a risk factor for low back pain? A prevalence study of LBP in physiotherapy students

Leah Jane Nyland et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Following reports of high prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in young physiotherapists, we investigated whether LBP was a problem for undergraduate physiotherapy students.

Method: Physiotherapy students enrolled in one Australian tertiary institution completed a validated self-administered questionnaire in April 2001, seeking information on LBP prevalence (lifetime, 12 month, one-month, one-week), and its risk factors. The survey incorporated the Nordic back questionnaire, questions on common risks for LBP, and purpose-built questions regarding educational exposures. Univariate logistic regression models were applied to test associations.

Results and discussion: 72% students responded. LBP prevalence was 69% (lifetime), 63% (12-month), 44% (one-month), 28% (one-week). The risk of LBP increased significantly for students once they completed first year. Being aged 20 or 21 years (final year students) was significantly associated with all measures of LBP, compared with the youngest students. Exposure to tertiary study of greater than two years was associated with lifetime, 12 month and one-month LBP prevalence. Spending more than 20 hours in the past month 'sitting looking down' was significantly associated with one-month LBP prevalence. Similar exposure to 'treating patients' was significantly associated with one-month and one-week LBP prevalence.

Conclusions: Physiotherapy students should be alerted to the likelihood of LBP and is potential causes during their training, so that they enter the workforce with reduced risk of LBP. The potential for other undergraduate students to suffer LBP should also be considered.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The frequency of LBP reported in the context of 12 month prevalence of LBP
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Biering-Sorensen F. A prospective study of low back pain in a general population. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. 1983;15:71–79. - PubMed
    1. Cassidy JD, Carroll LJ, Cote P. The Saskatchewan health and back pain survey: the prevalence of low back pain and related disability in Saskatchewan adults. Spine. 1998;23:1860–1867. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199809010-00012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leboeuf-Yde C, Klougart N, Lauritsen T. How common is low back pain in the Nordic population? Spine. 1996;21:1518–1526. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199607010-00005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Matsui H, Maeda A, Tsuji H, Naruse Y. Risk indicators of low back pain among workers in Japan: association of familial and physical factors with low back pain. Spine. 1997;22:1242–1248. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199706010-00014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Papageorgiou AC, Croft PR, Ferry S, Jayson MIV, Silman AJ. Estimating the prevalence of low back pain in the general population: evidence from the South Manchester pain survey. Spine. 1995;20:1889–1894. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources