Work-related muscoskeletal symptoms and work impairment among workers in turkish companies

Abstract

SUMMARY Objective: Musculoskeletal disorders are major problems for the working population. The aims of study were to describe musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) and work impairment among workers and to analyze the relationships between these complaints and work related and individual factors. Method: This was a cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of 498 workers from four different companies in Izmir. A questionnaire including questions relating to socio-demographic characteristics, working conditions, lifestyle factors, body mass index, social relationships and job satisfaction was administered. The General Nordic Questionnaire for MSS was used to examine reported complaints over the past 12 months. Work activity impairment was evaluated by two items in this study. These attempted to determine whether health problems in the last 7 days affected daily life and working life. Results: Mean age was 35.3 ± 8.2 years (range 18-60 years); 79.2% of participants were male. 67.7% had experienced MSS in at least one body part during the past 12 months. Lower back pain was the most common MSS. There were no relationships between MSS and the following work-related factors: type of company, employment status, occupational category, career length, daily working hours, shift work, working overtime, night work, relationships with colleagues. Employees who were satisfied with their jobs and work conditions had a statistically significantly lower rate of complaints. There were significant correlations between poor posture and MSS. There was an association between MSS and work impairment. Conclusions: Musculoskeletal symptoms were a common problem among workers in the study population. An important risk was work-related poor posture. Keywords: Workers, Nordic Questionnaire, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, work limitation OZET Ama c : Kas iskelet sorunlari calisan toplumun en basta gelen saglik problemlerinden biridir. Bu calismanin amaci calisanlarda kas iskelet sorunlari ve ise bagli kisitliligi belirlemek, yakinmalari ile bireysel ve ise bagli faktorler arasindaki iliskiyi saptamaktir. Y o ntem : Bu kesitsel calisma, dort farkli isletmede calisan 498 kisinin katilimi ile gerceklestirilmistir. Sosyo-demografik ozellikler, is kosullari, yasam tarzi ozellikleri, vucut-kitle indeksi, sosyal iliskiler, is doyumuna iliskin bilgileri toplamak uzere anket hazirlanmistir. Son 12 aylik kas iskelet sorunlarini saptamak uzere Genel Nordik anketi kullanilmistir. Son 7 gun icin ise bagli kisitliligin belirlenmesi iki maddelik bir olcek kullanilmistir. Bulgular: Katilimcilarin ortalama yasi 35.3 ± 8.2 yil (18-60), %79.2’i erkektir. Son 12 ay icinde vucudun herhangi bir bolumunde en az bir kas iskelet sorunu yasayan calisanlarin sikligi %67.7 olarak belirlenmistir. En sik bel yakinmasi bildirilmistir. Kas iskelet sorunlari ile is arkadaslari ile iliskiler, calisilan isyeri, yapilan is, calisma suresi, gunluk calisma saati, fazla calisma, vardiyali calisma, gece calisma degiskenleri arasinda bir iliski saptanamamistir. Isyeri kosullari ve isinden hosnut olanlarda yakinmalar daha az saptanmistir. Kotu postur ile calismasi ve yakinmalar arasinda iliskili belirlenmistir. Ise bagli kisitlilik ile kas iskelet yakinmalari da iliskilidir. Sonu c : Kas iskelet yakinmalari katilimcilar arasinda yaygin ve kotu posturun en onemli risk faktoru oldugu belirlenmistir Anahtar s o zc u kler : Isciler, Nordic anketi, isle iliskili kas-iskelet bozukluklari, is kisitliligi