Prevalence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Iranian Physical Therapists: A Cross-sectional Study

Rahimi, Fatemeh; Kazemi, Khadijeh; Zahednejad, Shahla; López‐López, Daniel; Calvo‐Lobo, César

doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2018.02.003

Cited by 26 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Too many patients treated daily by one physiotherapist were identified as a risk factor in the literature (13,15,19,24) and also proved to be a risk factor in our study sample. There was also a correlation between the number of patients treated and WMSD in the past year in the neck area and multiple body areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…A possible individual risk factor for developing WMSD is the age, where younger people are more susceptible to developing WMSD (13,24,27,28), although Rugelj (29) reports a higher prevalence of low back pain in older groups, especially in women, due to the cumulative effect, also reported by Cromie et al (24). Glover et al (28) and Anyfantis and Biska (21) on the other hand reported that the worst injuries at work appear in the first 5 years after graduation in 32% of physiotherapists, mostly due to lack of experience of right positions during treatment and reluctance to get help from an assistant (15). Most physiotherapists experience the first symptoms of musculoskeletal pain before the age of 30 (15).…”

Section: Wmsd Among Physiotherapistsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Although physiotherapists have a lot of knowledge about musculoskeletal injuries and prevention strategies, research indicates that there is a high prevalence of WMSD among this group of workers (14,15). The nature of the work of physiotherapists is physically demanding, as it involves repetitive tasks, various manual techniques, and awkward positioning of joints during certain prolonged constrained postures (16,17).…”

Section: Wmsd Among Physiotherapistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One-year prevalence of WMSD among physiotherapists ranges from 28 to 96% (13). Low back pain is the most common problem of physiotherapists (11,(13)(14)(15)17,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). For the lower back area, the 1-year prevalence is 6.6-83%, mostly due to repeated lifting and transferring, twisting, and bending or standing for a long time (13,23).…”

Section: Wmsd Among Physiotherapistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Glover et al (28) and Anyfantis and Biska (21) on the other hand reported that the worst injuries at work appear in the first 5 years after graduation in 32% of physiotherapists, mostly due to lack of experience of right positions during treatment and reluctance to get help from an assistant (15). Most physiotherapists experience the first symptoms of musculoskeletal pain before the age of 30 (15). Cromie et al (24) found that those physiotherapists who treat more patients per day are more likely to develop WMSD.…”

Section: Wmsd Among Physiotherapistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among Slovenian physiotherapists

Meh

Bizovičar

Kos

et al. 2020

JHSCI

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Introduction: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) represent a major problem for society, employers, and employees. These kinds of problems can cause discomfort, pain, and poor work performance. Among physiotherapists, the 1-year prevalence of WMSD ranges from 28 to 96%. Most problems occur in the lower back, with a 1-year prevalence of up to 83%. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of WMSD on a sample of physiotherapists from Slovenia and to identify associations between demographic/anthropometric variables, job satisfaction, and physical activity with WRMD aiming to contribute to the development of effective prevention and control strategies. Methods: The extended Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to obtain data from a sample of 102 physiotherapists. Data were presented with descriptive statistics and processing was performed with the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient for non-parametric variables. The level of statistical significance was set as p ≤ 0.05. Results: The 1-year prevalence of WMSD was 92.2%. One-year prevalence of WMSD was highest for the neck (64%) and lower back (63%). Higher age and more years of practice were correlated with WMSD for shoulders and ankles/feet areas. Several patients treated by a physiotherapist were a risk factor for difficulties in the neck and multiple body areas. The level of physical activity was not correlated with WMSD in different body areas. Conclusion: The prevalence of WMSD found in our study sample was among the highest compared to other countries, despite probably having similar working conditions as elsewhere in Europe. The first WMSD of Slovenian physiotherapists mostly did not occur in the first 5 years of practice as other studies reported, which could be explained as a result of a good educational training of young physiotherapists. Possible reasons for the high prevalence of WMSD could be that our study sample represented only secondary and tertiary levels of health care; another reason could also be non-ergonomic and hard working conditions during their careers. Physiotherapists are mostly adequately physically active, however, that did not turn out to be effective WMSD prevention in our sample. The relatively high prevalence is indicating the need for better interventions and prevention of WMSD in Slovenian physiotherapists.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%