title: Do Turkish patients with lumbar disc herniation know body mechanics?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most common and important cause of the low back pain is lumbar disc herniation. Patients with lumbar disc herniation face with difficulties during daily activities due to the reduction of physical functions. In order to maintain daily activities without pain and discomfort, the patients should be informed about proper positions and body mechanics. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and the applications of the patients with lumbar disc herniation about body mechanics.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive study was conducted with 75 patients with lumbar disc herniation in Edirne, Turkey. The population consisted of 75 patients who accepted to participate in the study. In the collection of data the questionnaire, which was developed according to literature by the researcher, was used. Descriptive statistics, student t-test, variance and correlation analysis were used for assessment of the data. The significance level was accepted at 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that 53.3% of the patients experienced awful/very severe pain. and there were some points that the patients have enough information about; mobilisation, standing, carrying the goods, leaning back while sitting, leaning somewhere while standing, getting support from the chair when standing up, avoiding sudden position changes, changing feet frequently while standing. It was detected that a statistical relation between educational level and knowledge about body mechanics exists.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that individuals with lumbar disc herniation have not enough information about body mechanics and they experienced long-term severe pain. Nurses and other health care workers have important role in explaining the importance of body mechanics to the patients and should encourage them to use that in daily life.
authors.forename: Sacide Yildizeli
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Topcu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mechanics; low back pain; lumbar disc herniation; patients care