Abstract

Purpose This systematic review investigates the effectiveness of workplace interventions to rehabilitate musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among employees with physically demanding work. Methods A systematic search was conducted in bibliographic databases including PubMed and Web of Science Core Collection for English articles published from 1998 to 2018. The PICO strategy guided the assessment of study relevance and the bibliographical search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs in which (1) participants were adult workers with physically demanding work and MSD (including specific and non-specific MSD and musculoskeletal pain, symptoms, and discomfort), (2) interventions were initiated and/or carried out at the workplace, (3) a comparison group was included, and (4) a measure of MSD was reported (including musculoskeletal pain, symptoms, prevalence or discomfort). The quality assessment and evidence synthesis adhered to the guidelines developed by the Institute for Work & Health (Toronto, Canada) focusing on developing practical recommendations for stakeholders. Relevant stakeholders were engaged in the review process. Results Level of evidence from 54 high and medium quality studies showed moderate evidence of a positive effect of physical exercise. Within this domain, there was strong evidence of a positive effect of workplace strength training. There was limited evidence for ergonomics and strong evidence for no benefit of participatory ergonomics, multifaceted interventions, and stress management. No intervention domains were associated with “negative effects”. Conclusions The evidence synthesis recommends that implementing strength training at the workplace can reduce MSD among workers with physically demanding work. In regard to workplace ergonomics, there was not enough evidence from the scientific literature to guide current practices. Based on the scientific literature, participatory ergonomics and multifaceted workplace interventions seem to have no beneficial effect on reducing MSD among this group of workers. As these interventional domains were very heterogeneous, it should also be recognized that general conclusions about their effectiveness should be done with care.Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42018116752(https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=116752).

Highlights

  • There has been a major focus on rehabilitating musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), it remains a significant problem in many workplaces around the world

  • While some are able to work with an MSD, it can for others lead to an imbalance between physical demands of work and individual resources increasing the risk of poor work ability, sick leave and premature exit from the labour market [8,9,10,11]

  • We found that participatory ergonomics at the workplace had no effect on reducing MSD among workers with physically demanding work

Read more

Summary

Introduction

There has been a major focus on rehabilitating musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), it remains a significant problem in many workplaces around the world. MSD has a multifactorial etiology and, in addition to individual factors, is influenced by a complex interaction between both physical and psychosocial factors in the working environment [4,5,6,7]. MSDs are especially a major problem among workers with physically demanding work (i.e. certain physical tasks are required to perform the job e.g. lifting, pulling, pushing, standing, walking, bending, forceful or fast repetitive tasks, etc.), where pain can make it difficult to perform daily work tasks. While some are able to work with an MSD, it can for others lead to an imbalance between physical demands of work and individual resources increasing the risk of poor work ability, sick leave and premature exit from the labour market [8,9,10,11]

Objectives
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call