Abstract
Background
Various studies have highlighted issues regarding the prevalence of back pain due to lead apron use. The health and safety executive guidelines on personal protection equipment state that an employee should be able to carry the weight of a lead apron without injury (HSE, 2017). It has been suggested that wearing a 15 pound lead apron can place pressures of up to 300 pounds per square inch of the intervertebral discs (Khalil, 1993), ‘interventionalist's disc disease’ has been identified as a confirmed entity (Ross et al. 1997).
Aim
To evaluate the prevalence of back pain amongst theatre staff and correlate this to lead apron use.
Methods
Data collection (November 2018 – February 2019) involved the distribution of questionnaires to staff using lead aprons on a routine basis at Salisbury District Hospital.
Results
A total of 59 members of staff responded to the questionnaire. The results showed that 30% staff had a previous history of back pain, of these 61% felt that their back pain had worsened since wearing lead aprons. 46% of staff who did not have any previous history of back pain developed new back pain since wearing lead aprons. A total of 46% of staff feel that their back pain has been exacerbated or caused by lead apron wearing.
Conclusion
The study highlights that a significant proportion of staff had new or worsening back pain due to lead apron use. This can lead to time off work and could lead to unsafe practice around ionising radiation.
No Conflicts of interest No funding obtained
