Prevalence of Low Back Pain among Filling Stations Attendants in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria

Low back pain is prevalent among workers of some certain industries and occupation, however little is known about its prevalence among filling stations attendants who are perceived to belong to the group that are exposed to high occupational risk. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of LBP among selected filling stations attendants as well as their associated risk factors. The study design was a cross sectional descriptive survey. All subjects were evaluated using an adapted questionnaire used in a previous study titled: “Prevalence of Low Back Pain among Traffic Warden in Lagos state” using a purposive sampling technique. It is a 36-item questionnaire which sought information on demographic data, 12 months prevalence of LBP prior to the study, severity of LBP, history of LBP, causative factors and management of LBP and its effect on filling stations attendant’s activities and activities of daily living. The intensity of the pain was assessed using a verbal rating scale. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 and the level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Majority of the respondents 175 (61.40%) were below the age of 25 years, while 19 (6.66%) respondents were between the of age 35 and 64years. Among the participants, 247 (86.70%) were males while 38 (13.30%) were females. The prevalence of low back pain over a 12 month period was observed to be 84.60%. The pain intensity was described as moderate (71.23%), mild (17.54%) and severe (11.23%) using verbal rating scale. There was relationship between age (p=0.0001), gender (p=0.0001) and years of experience (p=0.0001) of the filling station attendants and prevalence of low back pain. A higher prevalence was identified among male compared to females. Majority (171, 60%) of the respondent reported that prolong standing was the activity that predispose them to LBP. It can be concluded that low back pain is prevalent among filling stations attendants. Higher prevalence was identified in males compared to female, although there was male preponderance. Age, gender and years of involvement in attendant work had significant influence on the prevalence of LBP.

Keywords
Low back pain; Prevalence; Filling station attendant; Major oil marketers