Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Pourakarmikas in Bengaluru, Karnataka: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background In a metropolitan city like Bengaluru solid waste disposal is a challenging task and Pourakarmikas play an integral role in this. lsquoPourakarmikasrsquo is the terminology used for municipal solid waste workers in Karnataka referring to street sweepers who collect waste and carry out the cleaning of public places. It includes activities like collecting garbage recyclable materials and commercial amp industrial wastes. Municipal solid waste is collected manually requiring repeated heavy physical activity. Musculoskeletal problems are common among waste collectors. Hence the study was conducted to assess musculoskeletal disorders among Pourakarmikas.Methodology This cross-sectional study was carried from June to August 2022 among Pourakarmikas in Chickpet ward South zone Bengaluru using systematic random sampling method. The sample size was calculated according to the previous study by Reddy EM et al. and was rounded up to 140. The data was collected using Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire which was entered into an excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS v27.0.Results 92.9 of the participants were females and 49 of the participants belonged to the age group 31-40 years. Among 140 Pourakarmikas included in the study 125 89.28 reported having musculoskeletal pain in the last year. Most of them belonged to lower socio-economic status and only a few were from the lower middle class.Conclusion The higher prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder among Pourakarmikas were mainly due to their nature of work and long hours of employment. The most frequently affected body regions were the lower back followed by knee joint upper back and shoulder joints. The symptoms were attributed to their work experience of more than 20 years followed by 5-10 years. Integrated health education including ergonomics and healthy work habits needs to be incorporated into a pre-health screening program.