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Table 3 The 12 month prevalence of LBP among Botswana teachers in relation to individual and lifestyle factors

From: Low back pain among school teachers in Botswana, prevalence and risk factors

Risk factorsa

% with LBP

P value

Gender

 

<0.001

Male

47.7

 

Female

58.7

 

Age (years)

 

0.356

≤30

53.5

 

31-40

54.5

 

41-50

58.9

 

>50

56.4

 

Body mass index

 

0.673

<18.5

50.7

 

18-24.9

54.1

 

25-29.9

56.5

 

≥30

57.2

 

Marital status

 

0.220

Single

53.7

 

Married

57.9

 

Separated/divorced/widowed

57.4

 

Education level

 

0.515

Certificate

51.1

 

Diploma

55.3

 

Bachelor’s degree

57.0

 

Number of children <6 years

 

0.562

1

55.2

 

≥2

58.1

 

Previous injury

 

<0.001

No

51.7

 

Yes

91.8

 

Tobacco smoking

 

0.120

Smokers

42.9

 

Ex-smokers

52.7

 

Never smoked

56.3

 

Regular physical exercise (hours per week)

 

0.024

≤5

57.6

 

>5

47.2

 

School level

 

0.176

Primary school

57.5

 

Junior secondary school

52.8

 

Senior secondary school

54.1

 

Length of employment (years)

 

0.307

≤10

53.8

 

11-20

56.1

 

21-30

60.1

 

>30

58.1

 

Hours of work per week

 

0.002

40

54.2

 

>40

65.5

 

Average number of students taught

 

0.591

≤25

51.4

 

26-30

57.0

 

31-35

57.9

 

36-40

55.0

 

>40

55.2

 

Extracurricular activities

 

0.623

No

56.6

 

Yes

55.2

 
  1. aStatistical associations between independent variables and LBP were evaluated using chi-squared. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) are marked in bold.