BMC Nurs. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1186/s12912-026-05070-4. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In Sub-Saharan Africa, nursing professionals operate under intense occupational pressure characterized by high patient loads and an acute deficit of ergonomic support. These systemic constraints amplify the impact of mechanical low back pain (LBP) on work ability, the functional equilibrium between a clinician’s health status and their professional obligations. Guided by the biopsychosocial model, this study investigated the associations of physical activity (PA), pain intensity (PI), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with work ability among nurses experiencing mechanical LBP within a Nigerian tertiary clinical setting.
METHODS: A hospital-based, cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 188 clinical nurses at a federal referral hospital in Gombe, Nigeria. Eligible participants were nurses who had experienced a diagnosis of mechanical LBP persisting for at least three months. Validated instruments were deployed: the Work Ability Index (WAI) captured the dependent variable, while the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the Physical Component Summary (PCS) of the RAND-36 Health Survey quantified the independent variables. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis (alpha = 0.05).
RESULTS: Bivariate analysis demonstrated significant positive correlations between work ability and both PA (r = 0.435, p = 0.002) and HRQoL (r = 0.388, p = 0.001), alongside a significant inverse correlation with PI (r = -0.312, p = 0.001). The multiple linear regression model was statistically significant, F(3, 184) = 12.525, p = 0.001, accounting for 21.5% of the total variance (R2 = 0.215, Adjusted R2 = 0.198). Notably, physical activity emerged as the most robust independent indicator in the model (beta = 0.412, t = 3.14, p = 0.002), displaying a substantially greater association with functional work ability than the subjective intensity of clinical pain symptoms.
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that physical activity, subjective pain intensity, and health-related quality of life are concurrent factors significantly associated with the work ability of Nigerian clinical nurses managing mechanical low back pain. The empirical findings indicate that higher physical activity levels and lower pain intensities are both independently linked to optimal work ability scores within this cohort. Consequently, occupational health strategies in resource-constrained Nigerian medical environments should consider a comprehensive approach that couples traditional pain management with structured, low-cost institutional physical activity and exercise rehabilitation programs to support the functional capacity of the healthcare workforce.
PMID:42471682 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-026-05070-4
