LUMBOSACRAL PAIN AMONG STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF SPORTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The aim of the research was to determine the presence, prevalence, and causes of lumbosacral pain (LP), as well as the connection between lifestyle habits and the occurrence of LB among students at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education (FSPE) at the University of Belgrade. The sample consisted of 187 third- and fourth-year students. Data collection regarding personal characteristics, lifestyle habits, and characteristics of LP was conducted using a non-standardized questionnaire. The data were presented in terms of response frequency and percentage representation of each category. The significance of the differences between response categories, as well as differences between genders, was tested using the t-test for independent samples for parametric variables, while the chi-square test was used for non-parametric variables. The results show that 48.1% of all the respondents had experienced pain at least once in their lifetime; 20.3% reported pain once in the past 12 months; 13.5% experienced pain 2-4 times in the past 12 months; and 18.1% had LP more than 4 times during the past year. Reported LB most commonly ceased within a few hours to one day after onset (66.6%), and rarely lasted longer than 7 days (6.2%). The conclusion is that the prevalence of LP among FSPE students is high, but the pain itself most often lasted briefly and did not significantly impair their daily activities. To reduce the prevalence of LP in the future, greater attention should be directed towards developing and implementing various preventive measures that may include specific forms of exercise and corrected sitting postures.