Relationship Between the Exposure to Occupation-related Psychosocial and Physical Exertion and Upper Body Musculoskeletal Diseases in Hospital Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Nurses' musculoskeletal diseases (MSDs) are worldwide prevalent and are considered to be a costly occupational injury. This study aims to investigate the relationship between exposure to occupation-related psychosocial factors, physical workload, and upper body musculoskeletal diseases among hospital nurses. Methods: An electronic search was implemented using nine databases with June 2019 as the latest search date. English and Chinese studies were chosen, and data were independently and separately extracted by two investigators. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated for each subset, using the fixed or random-effects model, following heterogeneity between studies for research synthesis. The source of heterogeneity was explored through subgroup, sensitivity, and meta-analyses. Results: Eighteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Most participants were women (51.4% e100.0%), aged between 20 and 60. A correlation was found between high job demand and the prevalence of low back pain (OR ¼ 1.41; 95% CI ¼ 1.23-1.62). Total job strain was related to the risk of low back pain (OR ¼ 1.71; 95% CI ¼ 1.15-2.55), neck pain (OR ¼ 1.67; 95% CI ¼ 1.26-2.20), shoulder pain (OR ¼ 1.62; 95% CI ¼ 1.06-2.48) and back pain (OR ¼ 1.45; 95% CI ¼ 1.10-1.91). Furthermore, the physical workload was significantly associated with the prevalence of low back pain (OR ¼ 1.76; 95% CI ¼ 1.32-2.35), neck pain (OR ¼ 1.17; 95% CI ¼ 1.08-1.27), shoulder pain (OR ¼ 1.59; 95% CI ¼ 1.37-1.85) and back pain (OR ¼ 1.66; 95% CI ¼ 1.45-1.90). Conclusion: There were significant associations between occupational strain, more physical workload and upper body MSDs, but the evidence advocating a growth risk in MSDs due to low levels of social support is quite weak.

Job strain and burnout in Spanish nurses during the COVID-19: resilience as a protective factor in a cross-sectional study

“…Job stress and strain in nurses has increased with COVID-19 [ 8 ] and strong job strain has been linked to high number of individual and unit demands, generating an increase in fatigue by the end of the shift [ 9 ]. Nurse’s fatigue not only affects the health and well-being of the workers themselves and the organization due to absenteeism and nursing turnover [ 9 , 10 ], but it is directly related to patient safety and care quality [ 11 ]. This study analyzed the relationship between job strain, which has hardly been evaluated in Spanish nurses, and burnout, and how strategies related to resilience can provide protection against negative effects.…”

The impact of manual patient handling on work ability: A cross‐sectional study in a Brazilian hospital

“…MPH also require the adoption of multiple awkward and strenuous postures, like trunk flexion, axial rotation of the spine and lateral bending (Garg et al., 1992 ). High physical workload can lead not only to the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders (Du et al., 2021 ), but also to less energy or motivation for leisure‐time physical activity (Møller et al., 2019 ) and has already been associated with decreased WA (van den Berg et al., 2009 ; Skovlund et al., 2020 ; Tonnon et al., 2019 ). A past research has found no association between lifting patients and inadequate WA (Fischer et al., 2006 ), however, this research did not control for receiving assistance and/or the use of patient‐handling equipment, like we did.…”

Comprendre les facteurs associés aux problèmes de santé physique et mentale dans le secteur de la santé au Québec

“…Dans le secteur de la santé, les preuves accumulées sur la base de tels modèles ont souvent ciblé des groupes d'emploi plus susceptibles d'être exposés à des exigences physiques ou psychologiques au travail (infirmières, personnel de soutien) (Bernal et al, 2014;Du et al, 2021;Krishnan et al 2021). En plus de s'intéresser aux plus âgés, notre analyse apporte une perspective plus large qui couvre des emplois variés.…”