Abstract:

Problem: The economic burden of health care in developing countries (like Nigeria) especially among the low social class and those involved in risky environment and occupations is worrisome and increase the out-of-pocket expenses of such individuals and expose them to poverty. A limited amount of data exists on the burden of low back pain (LBP) especially in developing countries.

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the economic burden of LBP of quarry workers who attend out-patient physiotherapy clinic of a tertiary health institution in Owo, Ondo State.

Methods: This study was carried out at Federal Medical Centre Owo in Ondo State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross sectional survey of forty quarry workers with LBP (28 males, 12 females) receiving physiotherapy at Federal Medical Centre, Owo, was carried out with purposive sampling method (non-probability sampling). Data on the economic burden of LBP and socio-demographic information of participants were collected using a self-developed questionnaire, reviewed by research experts. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics of proportions, mean and standard deviations.

Outcome: It was discovered in this study that, the cost of Physiotherapy represents the highest cost (63%) among the direct costs, followed by the cost expended on Physician visit (23.56%) while the cost of diagnostic tests represents the least (3%). Among the indirect costs, the expenditure on paid help, 34000 naira (45.7%) is the highest, while that of meals outside home, 9738.46 naira (13.0%) is the lowest. On the overall, this study reveals that the direct cost of low back pain among quarry workers (60.6%) forms the bulk of expenses of the management of low back pain by quarry workers. It is recommended that, policy formulation on alleviating the economic burden of ailments associated with risky jobs should be considered in developing countries, the research work should be carried out using larger population, inclusion of other risky occupations in future researches and that other possible factors that can be responsible for the low back pain of such workers should be taken into consideration in future studies.

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