Research center of clinical biomechanics and rehabilitation engineering, Imam Reza Hospital, Tehran, Iran , Abedi.zohre@gmail.com
Abstract: (7301 Views)
Background: Prevalence determination of musculoskeletal disorders in high risk jobs has a significant role in early diagnosis of these disorders, identification of the related risk factors, and their effective prevention and treatment. The present study was an attempt to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the military hospital nursing staff. Materials and methods: 200 nursing staff working in AJA hospitals (74% female and 26% male mean age 33.06±7 years) took part in this study by completing the Nordic questionnaire. Also demographic information on participants’ BMI, age, marital status and job experience was collected. Paired samples t-tests were run in order to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were also used for examining the distribution of musculoskeletal disorders. The relationship between such disorders and participants’ BMI, age, and job experiences was also checked. Results: According to the results, the musculoskeletal disorders in nurses were: low back pain (LBP) 47.8%, neck pain 45.8%, knee pain 43.8%, shoulder pain 43/8%, back pain 37.3%, foot pain 29.4%, wrist pain 22.4%, hip pain 15.9%, and elbow pain 14.4%. The prevalence of leg pain significantly increased as body mass index (BMI) and age (p<0.05) increased. Also pain in shoulder, back, elbow, wrist, hip, and knee increased as participants’ job experience increased (p<0.05). The prevalence of low back pain and wrist pain in married staff was more than single ones (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the most common areas of musculoskeletal pain in military nursing staff were the low back, neck, knee and shoulder. It is suggests that avoiding exposure to risk factors and using protective methods be used in order to prevent such disorders.