Abstract
Background: Healthcare profession is known to be at high risk for work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). It is estimated that almost one-third of all cases of sick leave among healthcare workers are related to WMSDs. Many studies are conducted, which measured the variety of factors across a range of occupations at different levels of risk. However, relation of current exposure to the risk of developing WMSDs is indeed an area to be looked into. Hence, the current study evaluated current exposure and risk of developing WMSDs among different groups of healthcare professionals. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional exposure-risk assessment study, conducted on 140 healthcare professionals, including dentists, laboratory technicians, nurses, physicians and physiotherapists of various clinical departments in a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India from January to June 2013. Face-to-face interviews and observational analysis of various job tasks were employed. Different combinations of validated and standardized questionnaires were used for collecting different types of data. Results: The exposure and risk assessment on occurrence of WMSDs indicates that nurses are at the highest risk for developing WMSDs, followed by dentists and physiotherapists whereas laboratory technicians and physicians have the least. Among the participants who reported MSDs pain, more than half of the cases were related to work. Conclusion: Among all the healthcare professions, nurses were found to be the high risk group, whereas physicians were found to be the low risk group. We recommend that education, awareness, and training programs on prevention and coping strategies for MSDs be made mandatory for healthcare professionals.
Highlights
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are responsible for morbidity in many working populations and are known as an important occupational problem with increasing compensation and health costs, reduced productivity, and lower quality of life.[1]
Many studies have been conducted to provide the basis for the risk assessment of the development of WMSDs,[8] which have measured the levels of a variety of factors across a range of occupations at different levels of risk, and investigated the associations with the incidence or prevalence of MSDs for the populations concerned,[9,10] but the association between current exposure and risk of developing WMSDs, is an issue to be looked into
A correlation was found between occupational factors and incidence of WMSDs among the healthcare workers, which indicates that certain healthcare professions are at high ergonomic risk
Summary
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are responsible for morbidity in many working populations and are known as an important occupational problem with increasing compensation and health costs, reduced productivity, and lower quality of life.[1]. Many studies have been conducted to provide the basis for the risk assessment of the development of WMSDs,[8] which have measured the levels of a variety of factors across a range of occupations at different levels of risk, and investigated the associations with the incidence or prevalence of MSDs for the populations concerned,[9,10] but the association between current exposure and risk of developing WMSDs, is an issue to be looked into. Healthcare profession is known to be at high risk for WMSDs.[11,12,13] It is estimated that almost one-third of all cases of sick leave among healthcare workers are related to MSDs.[14] It appears that even in developed countries WMSDs are under-reported among healthcare providers.[15] It is much neglected in Yasobant and Rajkumar: Health of healthcare professionals in India developing countries. The current study compared the prevalence and distribution of WMSDs among five different groups of healthcare professionals working in a tertiary-care hospital in Chennai, India, and evaluated current exposure and risk of developing WMSDs
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