Muhammad Mustafa, Muhammad Osama.
The Prevalence of Chronic Low Back Pain and Relative Disability among Farmers of Swat.
Int J Rehab Sci Jan ;05(01):37-42.

Background and Purpose: Pakistan is an agricultural country and farmers are among the main strength providers to its vitality but health issues of this community often go unnoticed either due to negligence, lack of financial recourses or lack of sufficient statistical background information. the idea of this study is to look into the prevalence of the low back pain among farmers. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study design was used. the study population comprised of farmers residing in district of Swat. the sampling was done via convenience sampling and a total of 243 individuals were contacted for the study, for which 200 participants responded which were than enrolled in the study, after receiving the signed consent form. the participants were than distributed the Research questionnaire and their feedback was collected hand to hand. SPSS V16.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: the result a total of 110 out of 200 of the total subjects had experienced low back pain at least once, indicating an overall prevalence of 55% out of which 101 subjects stated to farming to be the cause of their symptoms. Lifting was found to be the most common cause of aggravating factors, other being bending and squatting. Other regions were also involved in addition to low back for symptoms, including foot(15%), knee(15.5%), elbow 6.5%) elbow and cervical spine (1.5%). on Oswestry disability distribution 33% were ranked as mild, 12% moderate, 8% severe and 2% as bed bound due to stability Conclusion: in light of the findings by the results about low back pain and disability the prevalence is observed higher due to the nature of work. A change in the habits and knowledge about work distribution is considered to help change the situation.

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