ABSTRACT

Abstract

Low Back Pain (LBP) has been found to be a leading cause of disability which significantly restricts normal activity and occupation of individuals who experience it. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain in adult patients attending family medicine clinics of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in 2013 among 245 adult patients with LBP using a semi-structured interviewer administered Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability and the General Health Questionnaires. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. The modal age group was 51-60 years, 71 (29.0%), majority of the respondents in this study were female (68.6%) and married (67.8%). Prevalence of low back pain for the period (May-October) was 31.3 per 1000 population (3.1%). Low back pain was a significant contributor to morbidity in the adult outpatient clinics and there is a need to design suitable interventions to reduce its prevalence in the population.

Keywords: Low Back Pain, Adults, Prevalence, Risk Factor, Edo State.