Work-Related Low Back Pain among Sewing Machine Operators of Garment Industry: Galan City Oromia Region, Ethiopia

• Published in: International journal of occupational hygiene 2017-09, Vol.10 (1)
• Main Authors: ARARSO TAFESE, GETAHUN KEBEDE, ABERA SHIBRU, TSEGAYE BENTI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Low back pain; Sewing machine operators; Work-related musculoskeletal disorders
• ISSN: 2008-5109; 2008-5435

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the leading occupational disease imposing the health of working population among developed and developing countries. This study determined the magnitude and associated factors of LBP among garment industry workers in Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia. This institutional cross-sectional study was conducted from the 5th Jan to Apr 2015 on Garment industry workers in Eastern Oromia, on 422 participants. A face-to-face interview was used to collect quantitative data and the Nordic Questionnaires to measure the outcome of interest, LBP, as a worker experiencing self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms in the lower back were defined by aches, pain, or discomfort during the last 12 months. All the questionnaires have been checked visually, coded and entered into SPSS. The magnitude of self-reported LBP was 64.9%. Workers, those had a longer working experience were 2 up to 10 times the chance to have developed workrelated LBP than those with shorter work experience. The magnitude of work-related LBP among garment industry is high. Therefore, government, the owner of the companies and other stockholders should focus on the prevention and control of occupational risk factors for work-related LBP in the garment industries.