Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among nursing surgery teams

Abstract

Among the health professions, nursing, in particular, has been affected by musculoskeletal disorders. The WMSD produce changes in the lives of these workers, impossible of them held daily activities and labour. Objective: Investigating the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and associated with the quality of life in nursing professionals who work in surgery teams. Method: Cross-sectional study conducted between March 2011 and January 2012 in a tertiary university hospital in southern Brazil. We evaluated 110 workers nursing teams. It was excluded workers on sick leave, vacation or other absence during the period of data collection. The musculoskeletal pain was assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal symptoms questionnaire the quality of life was assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study 36 - Item Short-Form Survey (SF-36). The relationship between musculoskeletal pain and quality of life were analyzed by the U of Mann-Whitney test, using a significance level of 95%. Results: The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain found in this study was 91.81%. With respect to anatomic regions, it was considered the complaints of musculoskeletal pain retroactive twelve months ago, where there was the predominance of neck pain (56%) and shoulders (56%). When we consider sick leaving for musculoskeletal pain we found the prevalence of low back pain (34%). The group who reported no musculoskeletal pain showed better indices of quality of life in the areas of physical functioning, physical aspect, bodily pain, vitality, social and mental health aspect. Conclusion: the higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the neck and shoulder regions. Moreover, the largest number of sick leaves occurs because of the prevalence of low back pain among nursing staff of the surgical teams. The pain influenced the quality of life affecting six of the areas assessed.