EFFECT OF LOW BACK PAIN IN YOUNG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF HEALTH SCIENCES DURING THE PERIOD OF HOSPITAL ROTATION, AT THE LATIN UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA, BETWEEN AGES 18 AND 25, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THEIR PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Globally, low back pain has become a public health problem that affects both the student population and the general population, since it has negative effects on physical, mental and socioeconomic health. This is due to the fact that it has a high rate of incapacity to perform daily activities, taking into account that the prevalence of low back pain in university students is between 30 to 70%, depending on the location and time of evolution of the pain. The objective to examine the effect of low back pain in young medical and physiotherapy students on a hospital rotation period and how it influences their physical and mental performance. A qualitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out, where a survey was applied to 20 university students between 18 and 25 years of age from the Universidad Latina de Panamá. Results among the risk factors that increase the prevalence of low back pain, 65% of the students refer that they remain standing for many hours during their internships, while 35% indicate that they perform bad postures during their internships. It concludes low back pain is an important health problem that affects the student population in the 2 health area, due to external factors such as long working hours, poor posture or mobilization of patients, which increase the risk of suffering low back pain, leading to deterioration in their quality of life.