Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Discomfort among Nurses
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Ou, Yu-Shan
Abstract
Musculoskeletal discomforts (MSDs) is one of the major causes of nursing shortage. Nurses account for the highest MSD prevalence rate compared to other groups of healthcare workers. Suffering from MSDs may result in nurses’ quitting their job earlier, increasing sick leaves, and decreasing the quality of personal life and job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to understand the magnitude of and risk factors for MSDs in Taiwan nurses, and to identify the preventive strategies of MSDs.his cross-sectional study employed a self-report questionnaire for data collection. Questions included demographic information, symptoms of MSDs and contents of average daily work. The content validity was 0.96 and the test re-test reliability was 0.99 for demographic information and was 0.80 for contents of work. A total of 4,390 questionnaires were distributed and 3,282 completed it, resulting in a high response rate of 74.8%.mong 3,282 nurses, 1,902 (58%) suffered from MSDs in the last one year. The prevalence of MSDs was 49.7% in neck, 45% in low back, 40.9% in right shoulder, 39.4% in left shoulder, 28.3% in right leg, and 26.1% in left leg. The most common symptom being sourness, and the prevalence rate was between 24.3% and 43.9%, followed by pain with the prevalence rate between 8.7% and 23.6%. Both age and seniority were highly associated with the incidence of MSDs, and standing for longer hours was also an important risk factor for MSDs. This study has identified a higher prevalence rate of MSDs in neck in our nurses compared to overseas studies. Advanced continuing education programs focused on ergonomic factors and preventive, measures for MSDs among nurses are warranted.
Subjects
musculoskeletal discomforts
nurses
prevalence rate
risk factors
Odds ratio
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