OBJECTIVETo investigate the awareness of occupational low back pain and knowledge of related prevention and healthcare measures among midwives, and to determine the incidence of low back pain among them.

METHODSA questionnaire survey was carried out with the use of Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (Chinese version) (CRMDQ) among 244 midwives from second- and third-class hospitals in Tianjin, China. Related indices were statistically analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 244 midwives who participated in the survey, only 18.4% knew the definition of occupational low back pain, 28.3% knew the pathogenic mechanism, and 54.1% knew its harm. About 9.4%∼85.2% of midwives mastered at least one method for prevention and health care against occupational low back pain. Proper or improper use of human body mechanics was closely related to the development of occupational low back pain (P < 0.01). There was a high proportion of midwives with a demand for application of human body mechanics principle in operation, and the proportion was as high as 99.2%. All the 24 items in CRMDQ were scored, with the lowest score of 1, the highest score of 24, and an average score of 8.5 ± 7.2.

CONCLUSIONThe awareness rate of occupational low back pain was low among the 244 midwives in this study. The incidence of low back pain, which had influenced the health status and occupational practice, was high among them.