RESUMO
Solid waste management is a global challenge impacting the lives of thousands of people, among them the recyclable materials waste pickers, through the separation and sale of these materials, make a living for themselves. These workers face unhealthy working conditions and are exposed to various occupational risks, which predispose the prevalence of musculoskeletal as chronic back problems. METHOD: Exploratory cross-sectional study with a semi-structured questionnaire to investigate the prevalence of back pain and related risk factors. RESULTS: 1.025 waste pickers were interviewed, and 970 records of chronic back pain were detected. Among them, 660 were women (68.04%), 310 were men (31.96%), the average age of 40.21 years; 597 were single (61.92%); 629 (64.84%) had over 11 years of work; 942 (97.11%) worked exclusively in the open dump, 899 (92.68%) with bags, 922 (95.05%) on dayshift. We found significant associations between gender (p < 0.001); age (p < 0.001); time at work (p < 0.022) and place at work (p < 0.001). After adjusting, there were higher prevalence of chronic back pain women (OR = 1.7), older age (OR = 2.64); working more than 11 years (OR = 1.09); and working on the open dump (OR = 2.8). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of subjective symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders was high. Women, over 36 years old, who worked more than 11 h a day in the open dump were more exposed to suffer from chronic back problems. The importance of urgently addressing the labor impacts related to solid waste management in developing countries to protect these workers and, especially, women involved in this work is emphasized.