Teleworking and Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Teleworking has spread drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its effect on musculo-skeletal disorders (MSD) remains unclear. We aimed to make a qualitative systematic review on the effect of teleworking on MSD. Following the PRISMA guidelines, several databases were searched using strings based on MSD and teleworking keywords. A two-step selection process was used to select relevant studies and a risk of bias assessment was made. Relevant variables were extracted from the articles included, with a focus on study design, population, definition of MSD, confounding factors, and main results. Of 205 studies identified, 25 were included in the final selection. Most studies used validated questionnaires to assess MSD, six considered confounders extensively, and seven had a control group. The most reported MSD were lower back and neck pain. Some studies found increased prevalence or pain intensity, while others did not. Risk of bias was high, with only 5 studies with low/probably low risk of bias. Conflicting results on the effect of teleworking on MSD were found, though an increase in MSD related to organizational and ergonomic factors seems to emerge. Future studies should focus on longitudinal approaches and consider ergonomic and work organization factors as well as socio-economic status.

Trabalho Remoto E as Desordens Musculoesqueléticas: Uma Revisão Integrativa Da Literatura

“…Sendo 13 destes artigos submetidos a análise qualitativa sobre a questão de pesquisa. A tabela Domínguez, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Guimarães et al, 2022;Lunde et al, 2022;Radulovic et al, 2021;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Tellez et al, 2022;Tezuka et al, 2022). Sob esta nova realidade, o teletrabalho, veio junto a uma gama de problemas ergonômicos, caracterizados por movimentos repetitivos, posturas inadequadas em período extenso, esforço físico, aumentando o risco de problemas musculoesqueléticos, isso pode ser evidenciado nos estudos de (Batista, Melcher e Carvalho, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Guimarães et al, 2022;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Tellez et al, 2022).…”

“…A tabela Domínguez, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Guimarães et al, 2022;Lunde et al, 2022;Radulovic et al, 2021;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Tellez et al, 2022;Tezuka et al, 2022). Sob esta nova realidade, o teletrabalho, veio junto a uma gama de problemas ergonômicos, caracterizados por movimentos repetitivos, posturas inadequadas em período extenso, esforço físico, aumentando o risco de problemas musculoesqueléticos, isso pode ser evidenciado nos estudos de (Batista, Melcher e Carvalho, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Guimarães et al, 2022;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Tellez et al, 2022). Como consequência, multiplicaram-se as queixas de condições como cefaleia, cervicalgia, lombalgia e dores articulares em ombros, joelhos e quadris (Alfaia et al, 2022;Ap et al, 2013;Cristancho, Barrera e Castellanos-Domínguez, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Fernandes e Salgueiro, 2022;Gomez et al, 2022;Guimarães et al, 2022;Minoura et al, 2019;Papalia et al, 2022;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Santos et al, 2021;Tellez et al, 2022;Tezuka et al, 2022;Vcw et al, 2018).…”

“…Foram mencionados problemas em termos profissionais e pessoais, como implicações para a saúde e para a vida familiar dos trabalhadores, além de terem sido expostos contrapontos positivos para os mesmos âmbitos. FADEL et al, 2023;GUIMARÃES et al, 2022;LUNDE et al, 2022;RADULOVIC et al, 2021;SAES-SILVA et al, 2022;TELLEZ et al, 2022;TEZUKA et al, 2022) Alfaia et al, 2022;Cristancho et al, 2022;Fadel et al, 2023;Fernandes et al, 2022;Gomez et al, 2022;Guimaraes et al, 2022;Minoura et al, 2019;Papalia et al, 2022;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Santos et al, 2021;Tellez et al, 2022;Tezuka et Tabela 3 -Síntese dos fatores de riscos ergonômicos descritos nos estudos analisados na tabela 1.…”

“…Avaliou-se dos 13 estudos descritos na tabela 1, o nível de evidência apresentado. Sendo nível de evidência 2 (Fadel et al, 2023;Lunde et al, 2022), nível de evidência 4 (Batista, Melcher e Carvalho, 2022;Guimarães et al, 2022), nível de evidência 5 (Alfaia et al, 2022;Barros e Silva, 2010;Chim e Chen, 2023;Cristancho, Barrera e Castellanos-Domínguez, 2022;Radulovic et al, 2021;Rafalski e Andrade, 2015;Saes-Silva et al, 2022;Tellez et al, 2022;Tezuka et al, 2022). As evidências científicas são produzidas por meio de abordagens experimentais diversas, o nível de evidência depende da forma como foi gerada esta evidência, entender como estas são classificadas é importante para analisar os resultados da pesquisa e, consequentemente, na tomada de decisão sobre a incorporação das evidências à prática clínica (MONTAGNA, ZAIA e LAPORTA, 2020).…”

Temporal and spatial distribution of musculoskeletal disorders from 1990 to 2019: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease

“…After age standardisation, OA increase can be explained by the potential underdiagnosis of patients who do not necessarily report their pain because they consider it sufficiently low. In addition, differences in prevalence can be explained by specific characteristics of the populations, not only by the age pyramids but also by obesity, 23 in personal behaviours such as the level of physical activity, the increase of telework 24 and/or in professional exposures such as biomechanical and psychological exposures, 6 ergonomics of the workstation and the tools used at work, 25 cultural factors in the diagnosis of patients 26 or even in pain tolerance. These aspects mean that the sensitivity and specificity of the indicators observed undoubtedly vary geographically due to the diversity of the countries' characteristics and the populations' profiles.…”