The impact of multiple regions of pain and work-life balance among healthcare workers

BACKGROUND: Although the association of chronic pain (CP) with a poor work-life balance has been well studied, the interaction effect of multiple pain sites on work-life balance is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the most prevalent CP site among healthcare workers, the demographic characteristics of the individuals with the predominant pain type, and to assess the interaction of multiple pain sites on work-life balance. METHODS: Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, 2,458 healthcare works were identified for this study. The independent variables were chronic low back and hip pain. The dependent variables were (1) if pain affected their family or significant other, (2) if pain limited their life or work activities, and (3) Usually working >35 hours/week. Multiple logistic regression and an interaction analysis were used to analyze the impact of different pain sites on work-life balance. RESULTS: Among healthcare workers, chronic low back pain was more prevalent than chronic hip pain (69.4% vs 61.4%, p-value<0.001). Respondents with chronic low back pain were mostly 40 – 64 years of age (49.6%), females (71.2%), white (77.6%), married (55.5%), had no college degree (85.4%), earn greater than $75,000 (50.0%). In the interaction analysis, in the presence of chronic hip pain, those with chronic low back pain had an AOR of 2.20 (1.05 – 4.64), p-value 0.038 of chronic low back pain affecting their family and significant others, and an AOR of 2.18 (1.17– 4.05), p-value 0.014 of chronic low back pain affecting their life or work. CONCLUSION: Chronic low back pain was more prevalent than chronic hip pain among healthcare workers. Together both pain sites had a significant impact on the work-life balance of this population. Further studies should assess other dimensions of work-life balance and chronic pain.