Work‐Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of Perioperative Personnel in the Netherlands

Abstract

Approximately one-third of all cases of sick leave for health care workers are related to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) originating in the neck, shoulders, and back. A cross-sectional multicenter survey based on the Nordic Questionnaire for Analysis of Musculoskeletal Symptoms investigated the nature and scope of MSDs among Dutch OR personnel. The three-month prevalence rates for MSDs in OR personnel were found to be high compared to MSDs in the general population and comparable to rates in other strenuous professions in health care, industry, and construction. The causes of MSDs that participants mentioned were summarized into four main categories: prolonged standing, awkward postures, lifting and pushing; and climactic conditions.

Perceived Demands and Musculoskeletal Disorders in Operating Room Nurses of Shiraz City Hospitals

“…Lower back symptoms were the most prevalent problem. This is in accord with the findings of Meijsen et al 30) on the low back pain prevalence in OR nurses that was 58% and the other studies conducted on health care workers 15, 18-20, 22-23, 25, 42) . Bos et al 32) found higher prevalence of the lower back in the OR nurse (76.6%) that could be due to different assignments and variety of tasks.…”

“…This could be attributable to more prolonged standing posture with the head bent forward. Comparison of the results of this study with the results of the National Health Survey of Iran 43) revealed that the prevalence rates of MSDs in different body regions of the OR nurses studied were significantly higher than those of the general Iranian population, in accordance with the findings of Meijsen et al 30) in the Netherlands, which indicates that OR nurse's job can be considered as a high-risk occupation for developing MSDs.…”

“…Musculoskeletal symptoms associated factors a) Perceived physical demands Statistical analysis of the data, similar to the other studies findings [28][29][30][31] , showed that perceived physical demands i.e., pulling/pushing heavy objects, moving/lifting/lowering heavy loads, repetitive motions with hands/wrists and bent or twisted posture of the trunk, were significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in different body regions. In accordance with Addington's results 28) , there was no relationship between lifting or lowering and low back problem, while bending and twisting at the waist had association.…”

“…In this occupation, as categorized by Meijsen et al 30) there are some risk factors that could be responsible for discomfort and disorders of musculoskeletal system. The risk factors include static stress (e.g., prolonged standing and fixed postures, holding equipments such as retractors during surgical procedure) and manual handling (e.g.…”

Combined Effects of Physical Demands and Shift Working on Low Back Disorders Among Nursing Personnel

“…Investigating the impact of each physical demand item showed that awkward body posture, repetitive motions and pressure with hands or wrists are associated with prevalence of LBDs independently. Many studies have shown that perceived physical demands such as polling/pushing heavy objects, moving/lifting/lowering heavy load, performing repetitive motions with hands/wrist and bending or twisting the body were significantly associated with MSDs [28,29,30,31]. The results of the present study are in accordance with the findings of Choobineh, Rajaeefard and Neghab's study which found that high levels of perceived physical demands (scores 10-12 of JCQ) were significantly associated with prevalence of LBDs compared to low-medium levels (scores 0-9 of JCQ).…”