Determinants of low back pain disability among office workers: The impact of fatigue, pain, and psychological distress

BackgroundThe prevalence of low back pain among office-workers is associated with prolonged sedentary behavior and improper postures. In addition to poor ergonomics, often overlooked issues such as psychological factors, sleep, fatigue, and pain can further exacerbate low back pain.ObjectiveThis study purposes to show whether there are differences in low back pain disability, anxiety, depression, quality of sleep, fatigue, and pain based on years of work experience among office-workers and to investigate determinants of low back pain disability.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 212 office-workers. Office workers were divided into <10 years, 10-19 years, and ≥20 years based on work experience. Low back pain, anxiety and depression, sleep quality, fatigue, and pain were assessed.ResultsThere were significant differences in low back pain complaints among office-workers based on the frequency of rest breaks (p = 0.001), the adequacy of rest areas (p < 0.001), and ergonomic education(p < 0.001). The low back pain disability score showed poor to moderate correlations with anxiety-depression (r = 0.492, p < 0.001), sleep (r = 0.427, p < 0.001), fatigue (r = 0.44, p < 0.001), and pain at various times (rest, activity, and night) (r = 0.532, r = 0.567, r = 0.567, respectively; all p < 0.001) among office workers. A multiple linear regression model found that fatigue and pain-night were determinants of low back pain disability, accounting for 42.2% of the variance (F = 18.104, p < 0.001).ConclusionFatigue and night pain were found to be key predictors of low back pain disability among office-workers. These findings highlight the role of ergonomic modifications, appropriate rest breaks, and targeted strategies to manage fatigue and nighttime pain to reduce low back pain disability in this population.