Prevalance Of Work Related Low Back Pain Among The Information Technology Professionals In India – A Cross Sectional Study

Objective: To study the prevalence of Work Related Low Back Pain (WRLBP) as one of the major Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD‘s) amongst the Information Technology (IT) Professionals in India. Study Design: As it was intended to study the factors that cause the low back pain in IT establishments, Cross sectional study design was adopted. Materials and Methods: IT Professionals (N=400) working at two IT companies located in Coimbatore city of India were used for initial screening of this study. Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was administered to capture the factors pertaining to the occurrence of Low Back Pain (LBP). Univariate Exploratory Analysis was employed to study the factors among the employees reported with Low Back Pain. Simple percentages and Means were employed to study the factors. The means between the groups with and without Back Pain were tested using Independent ttest. Results: It was inferred that 54% (N=162) male employees and 42% (N=98) female employees have reported LBP. Having considered all the subjects participated in the study, the percentage of employees with Low Back Pain is 51%. Conclusion: The study thus concludes that the Low Back Pain is the major Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorder among the IT Professionals studied. When demographic factors were analyzed, the study suggests life style changes along with therapeutic intervention. Hence appropriate prevention and intervention strategies should be employed to create a healthier working scenario and thereby improve productivity.