Background and Purpose

Low back pain is a symptom of the lumbar region for which professional activity may play a role in the genesis, maintenance or aggravation. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of low back pain and assess possible risk factors in the military.

Relevance:

The determination of risk factors for low back pain in the military will allow to establish a protocol of education and hygiene of the spine specifically to this population

Participants and methods:

This is a prospective cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study that took place from 01 October 2017 to 31 January 2018 and covered 423 serving military officers who met the inclusion criteria and gave their consent. Members with less than one year of seniority, those with a history of spinal pathologies and those absent during the survey were not included in this study. Each participant completed a questionnaire and underwent a clinical examination.

Analysis:

The data were entered and verified and analyzed in the SPSS 20 software. The qualitative variables were presented as a percentage and the quantitative variables as the mean ± standard deviation. Univariate statistical analysis was used to determine factors associated with low back pain and changes in intensity among participants. Significant values were set at p≤0.05

Results:

The average age is 32.85 ± 6.41 years; 23.87% were overweight. The average length of service is 10.61 ± 6 years (1 year 32 years). Our data indicate that 44.68% of participants had low back pain; the pain expressed was moderate in 1/3 of the cases. The risk factors statistically significant for this prevalence are: age (F = 5.08, p = 0.02), BMI (X² = 10.11, p = 0.01), year of service (X² = 10.82, p = 0.01), fall on the back (X2 = 9.68, p = 0.018), various postures (sitting: X² = 7.11, p = 0.01) ; standing bent trunk (X² = 5.35, p = 0.02) and right trunk (X² = 6.51, p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Low back pain is common among the military. The importance of influencing factors should prompt preventive measures appropriate to this profession.

Keywords: Low back pain; military; Prevalence; Risk factors