Occupational risk factors of Low Back Pain among tea pickers and non-tea pickers in James Finlay (K) Ltd, Kericho County, Kenya

Low back pain (LBP) is a major public health problem in the world. It is estimated that 60% of all employees experience LBP at some point in their life during their employment career. It is also the most prevalent musculo-skeletal condition in rural communities in Kenya and it is estimated that 64% of the tea pickers are suffering from LBP in Kenya, of these, 29% had a history of back pain before they started picking tea. The study aimed at determining the prevalence and assessing the occupational risk factors of LBP among tea pickers and non-tea pickers in James Finlay (K) Limited tea estates in Kericho County. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Bivariate, multivariate analysis and Pearson’s chi square (χ2) test was used to measure the associations. This study was a cross-sectional comparative study that sampled 454 adults (335 tea pickers and 119 non-tea pickers). The prevalence of LBP was found to be 45.4% (125/335) and 39.5% (47/119) among tea pickers and non-tea pickers respectively. The following characteristics were significant at bivariate level including age, parity and duration of work were found to be related to LBP among tea pickers and non-tea pickers (χ2=8.643; P=0.034 and χ2=6.013; p=0.049) respectively. However, the number of hours worked per day was significantly associated with LBP among tea pickers only (χ2=17.192; p=0.000).  Further, the number of kilograms of tea leaves picked and the number of kgs carried per day was also significantly associated with LBP (χ2=16.882; p=0.000 and χ2=15.978; p=0.001) respectively. There was also a significant association of LBP with carrying of heavy load and how one sharpened farm tools among the non tea pickers who reported to have suffered LBP (χ2=13.129; p=0.000 and χ2=4.125; p=0.042) respectively. However, age (p=0.0022; 95% CI -9.4-7); absenteeism from work (P=0.010; 95% CI 2.7-19.5), work duration per day (P=0.000; 95% CI 23.1-38.5), type of occupation (P=0.000; 95% CI 62.2-79.3) and the no. of Kgs (P=0.011; 95% CI -17.8-2.3) carried were found to contribute independently to LBP among tea pickers whereas absenteeism from work (P=0.000; 95% CI 11.9-29.1), work duration per day (P=0.000; 95% CI 69.8-86.8), alcohol uptake (P=0.008; 95% CI 3.2-20.7), heavy load carried (P=0.018; 95% CI 1.8-18.2) and work duration (P=0.002; 95% CI -14.3-3.2) among non-tea pickers were also found to contribute independently to LBP. The prevalence of LBP was found to be high among both tea and non-tea pickers. We recommend that there is need to consider reviewing tea picking policies for instance introduction of tea picking devices in order to alleviate occupational health hazards associated with tea picking. Key words: Low Back Pain, tea pickers, non-tea pickers.