Prevalence and influencing factors of low back pain among nurses in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common occupational injuries that nurses experience in their daily work, which ultimately causes disability or difficulty in performing heavy physical activity. There is scarce information that presents a direct figure about the prevalence of LBP in Chinese nurses. Objective: To systematically review and analyze the prevalence and influencing factors of LBP among nurses in China. Methods: Related literature extracted from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were selected and reviewed based on the PRISMA guideline. Random effects models were used for data analysis, where heterogeneity was tested through I2. Egger's test was used to analyze the literature publication bias. Results: The combined data indicated that the prevalence of LBP among nurses in China was 78％ [95％ confidence interval (CI) = 0.72–0.83]. The prevalence of LBP among nurses in China has declined in the past decade. Nurses presented a high risk of LBP in terms of female (OR = 2.38, 95％ CI = 1.23–3.44, P < 0.0001), married (OR = 2.79, 95％ CI = 1.57–3.86, P < 0.0001), 24 ≤ BMI < 28 (OR = 2.03, 95％ CI = 1.18–3.08, P < 0.0001), and working for more than ten >10 years (OR = 2.54, 95％ CI = 2.03–3.32, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of LBP among nurses in China. Interventions that include healthy dietary habits and physical activity mainly focusing on female married nurses who are working for at least 10 years should be implemented. Furthermore, nurses ought to apply ergonomic principles for personal protection at the workplace.