The effectiveness of social media and in‐person interventions for low back pain conditions in nursing personnel (SMILE)

Abstract

Abstract Aim To compare two educational approaches to reduce low back pain in nurses. Design A community randomized controlled clinical trial. Methods Data were collected with two interventions and a control arm between August 2018 and January 2019. Participants were recruited from three hospitals. Hospital 1 received an in‐person educational programme, Hospital 2 received via the website and Hospital 3 received nothing. Statistical analysis was carried out with a follow‐up of 3 and 6 months. Results A total of 180 female nurses with low back pain participated in the study. Dimensions of the quality of life improved over 3 and 6 months, pain and disability decreased over 3 months in both intervention groups and over 6 months in the social media group. Conclusion Two educational approaches can be effective in decreasing pain, disability and improving quality of life. However, the findings suggest that the social media approach was more successful over the long‐term and might be a better way to present the programme.

Keywords

• disability
• in‐person
• nurse
• occupational low back pain
• quality of life
• social media