Evaluation of a program to reduce back pain in nursing personnel

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a program designed to reduce back pain in nursing aides. Methods Female nursing aides from a university hospital who had suffered episodes of back pain for at least six months were included ill the Study. Participants were randomly divided into a control group and ail intervention group, The intervention program involved a set of exercises and ail educational component stressing the ergonomic aspect, administered twice a week during working hours tor four months, All subjects answered a structured questionnaire and the intensity of pain was assessed before and after the program using a Visual analogue scale (VAS). Student's t-test or the Wilcoxon Rank Stun Test for independent samples, and Chi-square test or the Exact Fisher test for categorical analysis, were used. The McNemar test and the Wilcoxon matched pairs test were used to compare the periods before and after the program. Results There was a statistically significant decrease ill the frequency of cervical pain in the last two months and in the last seven days in the intervention group. There was also a reduction in cervical pain intensity in the two periods (2 months, 7 days) and lumbar pain intensity in the last 7 days. Conclusions The results suggest that a program of regular exercise with ail emphasis oil ergonomics can reduce musculoskeletal symptoms in nursing personnel.