Abstract
(1) Background: Musculoskeletal disorders have a multifactorial etiology that is not only associated with physical risk factors, but also psychosocial risk factors; (2) Objective: This study evaluated the effects of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial risk factors; (3) Material and Methods: This study took a participatory ergonomic (PE) approach with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted at tertiary care hospitals during July to December 2014. A group of hospital orderlies in Thailand were randomly selected for examination. Fifty orderlies were placed in a case group and another 50 orderlies were placed in the control group. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire (NMQ) and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) were used for data collection before and after the intervention program; (4) Results: The most commonly reported problem among hospital orderlies was found to be lower back symptoms (82%). The study found significant differences in prevalence rates of reported musculoskeletal conditions in the arm, upper back, and lower back regions before and after intervention. Findings showed that psychosocial risk factors were affected by the intervention. COPSOQ psychosocial risk factors were significantly different pre/post intervention. These variables included: work pace, influence at work, meaning of work, predictability, rewards, role conflicts, and social support from supervisors. No other psychosocial risk factors were found to be significant; (5) Conclusions: Positive results were observed following the intervention in the work environment, particularly in terms of reducing physical work environment risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders and increasing promotion factors of the psychosocial work environment.
Highlights
Many studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are related to physical and psychological perceived job demands in the work environment [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The results revealed that prevalence rates of reported symptoms in the arm, upper back, and lower back reduced significantly after the intervention
Upper back, lower back and arm symptoms within the case group disappeared after intervention
Summary
Many studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are related to physical and psychological perceived job demands in the work environment [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Risk factors of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are known to include work place activities such as heavy load lifting, repetitive tasks, and awkward working postures [6,7]. Demographic characteristics and psychosocial factors are known to be important predictive variables [8,9,10,11]. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 464; doi:10.3390/ijerph13050464 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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