Prevalence of low back pain among Church Attendees in a rural community in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of years lived with disability globally, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The largest projected increase in LBP cases worldwide over the next 30 years will occur in Africa and Asia, mostly due to aging and population growth. There is a paucity of data on LBP prevalence in low- and middle-income countries, especially from occupationally heterogenous rural settings in Nigeria.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of LBP and its socio-demographic, anthropometric and occupational associations among church attendees in a rural community in South-south Nigeria.

Materials and methods: Consecutive sampling was used to recruit 110 consented adults aged 18 - 79 years at churches into this study. Simple logistic regression was utilized to analyse the association between the variables of gender; age groups; alcohol intake; use of tobacco; exercise; use of a soft mattress; waist:hip ratio, BMI and LBP.

Results: The prevalence of LBP in this study was 88%. Bivariate analysis using simple logistic regression revealed that gender (cOR = 17.85; 95% CI: 2.23 – 142.85; p = 0.007) and exercise (cOR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04 – 0.92; p = 0.039) were significantly associated with the prevalence of low back pain. Conversely, no significant association was observed between age (p = 0.718), type of mattress (hard or soft) (p = 0.626), BMI (p = 0.982), waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.713), alcohol consumption (0.794), tobacco consumption (p = 0.382) and LBP. The predominant socioeconomic class was class 5.

Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that female gender and exercise are major associated factors for LBP in this setting. These findings set the stage for future large scale confirmatory studies in this region.