The influence of low back pain on care workers' health-related quality of life

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the severity and the persistence of low back pain (LBP) in care workers and its influence on their health-related quality of life (QOL). [Subjects] The subjects were one hundred and fifty eight female care workers who worked for three health care service facilities for the aged in Japan. [Methods] The investigation was carried out by questionnaire survey. Subjects were asked if they had LBP at the time of the survey. If they had LBP subjects were further asked to describe how long their LBP had lasted. We evaluated the degree of LBP and the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) was used to assess health-related QOL. [Results] The participants were classified into two groups: a H-LBP group that reported a high degree of LBP and an L-LBP group that reported a low degree of LBP. In addition, the participants who had LBP at the time of survey were classified into two groups: an Acute group in which LBP had continued for less than 3 months and a Chronic group in which LBP had continued for more than 3 months. The scores for all dimensions of SF-36 in the L-LBP group were significantly lower than in the H-LBP group. The Chronic group had a significantly higher degree of LBP and lower "Bodily Pain" than the Acute group. [Conclusion] It is clear that the presence or the severity of workers' LBP influenced not only their pain and physical functions but also their social and psychological QOL.