The Transition to Remote Work: The Increased Prevalence of Onset Low Back Pain Due to COVID-19
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Natalia Krasowski
CoPIs:
Skyla King, Noorhan Elhaddad
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Physical Therapy
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Carla Enriquez, John Lee
Abstract:
The United States government placed a stay-at-home order on March 20, 2020, in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This movement inevitably led many businesses/workplaces to shift from in-person to remote employment. Due to this rapid shift in circumstances, many workers had to adapt to unpleasant working conditions such as an increase in working hours, poor work environments, and burnout. Our research sought to determine how the rapid shift from office work to working from home due to the pandemic increased the prevalence of onset of low back pain. This study aims to look at the relationship between working from home and the onset of LBP for participants who have desk-bound jobs. Although the prevalence of LBP is not fully understood, we hypothesize that there will be an increase in the onset of LBP in participants who worked from home since the stay-at-home order was implemented. We will be looking at the ergonomic changes from working in an office setting to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they affected musculoskeletal conditions, physical activity levels, rest, and productivity. The materials and methods used were a Google form survey and participants were recruited remotely through social media. Surveys that did not meet inclusion and exclusion criteria were discarded from the final results of the data analysis. Our data concluded that low back pain significantly increased when compared to pain prior to remote working due to the pandemic. However, our data was inconclusive as to whether ergonomic features of work from home space contributed to the increased prevalence of low back pain. Further research and more objective measurements are needed to determine if ergonomic features have a significant impact on MSK pains with at home workers.