Survey of back and neck pain in South African ophthalmologists

African Vision and Eye Health

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Survey of back and neck pain in South African ophthalmologists
 
Creator Anderson, Craig D. Makgotloe, Aubrey Koetsie, Karen Rose, André
 
Subject ophthalmology; public health age; gender; height; job capacity; subspecialty; hours spent working; and specific questions about back and neck pain
Description Background: Back and neck pain are common in the general population and a common occupational condition. Occupationally related back and neck pain is common amongst ophthalmologists.Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of back and neck pain amongst South African ophthalmologists.Setting: This was a survey that was conducted amongst South African ophthalmologists (n = 324) and ophthalmologists-in-training (n = 115).Methods: The response rate was 44.8% (n = 197). There was no sampling and a hyperlink to an electronic questionnaire, hosted on the REDCap survey platform, was sent to 440 potential respondents. A descriptive analysis was carried out using STATA version 15. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Witwatersrand.Results: Mean age was 47.1 years (standard deviation [s.d.] ± 12.1) and 62 (31.5%) women. The cohort was stratified into specialists (n = 81, 41.1%), subspecialists (n = 75, 38.1%) and ophthalmologists-in-training (n = 41, 20.8%). Most of the participants (n = 156, 79.2%) were qualified ophthalmologists. Respondents reported current back pain (n = 124, 62.9%), lower back pain (n = 66, 33.5%) and neck pain (n = 76, 38.6%). The overall median pain rating (on a scale from 1 to 10) was 4. Respondents reported mild pain (n = 71, 36%) and severe pain (n = 35, 17.7%). Operating and using a slit lamp were pain aggravating factors in 36% (n = 71) and 37.1% (n = 73), respectively.Conclusion: Back and neck pain are prevalent amongst South African ophthalmologists and comparable to other ophthalmologists worldwide.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-02-04
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Survey
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/aveh.v80i1.616
 
Source African Vision and Eye Health; Vol 80, No 1 (2021); 6 pages 2410-1516 2413-3183
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/616/1405 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/616/1404 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/616/1406 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/616/1403
 
Coverage South Africa January 2019 - May 2019 —
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Craig D. Anderson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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