PPT lectures

Low Back Pain among Physical Therapy
Professionals in Gaza Strip: Survey study

Prepared by: Fadel Mohammad Masoud
Under Supervision: Dr. Khamis Elessi
July / 2007

Introduction

Back pain is the number one cause of lost time in industry , hospital and schools
Virtually everyone will experience back pain at some time in life.
Back pain is self-limiting problem (90%) of back pain patients recover over a (3 to 4) weeks period , and many recover in only a few days.
Back problem are common , in the United States of America (USA) , about (80%) of the population will experience low back pain during adulthood , and (1%) of the affected patients will also experience sciatica , the annual incidence of low back pain is (15-20%).
Males are affected as often as females , and the pain is usually self-limiting , with 50% of affected patients recovering by 2 weeks and (90%) recovering by 6 weeks.
Only( 1%) of the population in United States of America is chronically disabled by back symptoms ( Skinner 1994).
The socioeconomic impact of back problems is enormous.
Low back pain is the most common reason for visits to the orthopedic surgeon.
Costs are estimated to range from( 20-50 $) billion annually , with (10%) of the patients accounting for( 85-90%) of the costs , investigator have shown that patients with chronic low back pain tend to be dissatisfied with their vocation , viewing it as boring and repetitious , they also have an increased divorce rate , more problems with headaches and gastrointestinal ulcers , and a higher rate of alcoholism than the average population ( Skinner 1994).