An Investigation of the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorder Complaints among the Employees of the Administrative Section of the Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran, in 2015

Rashidi *, Rajab and Gholami Habil, Zahra and Salemi, Mansoreh and Almasian, Mohamad (2017) An Investigation of the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorder Complaints among the Employees of the Administrative Section of the Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran, in 2015. Yafte, 19 (4).

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Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are the main cause of loss of work time, increases in costs, and human injuries. Therefore, the investigation of the prevalence of these disorders among administrative employees needs to receive attention, given the long hours they work with computers and the way they sit at their desks. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the administrative employees of the Lorestan University of Medical Sciences working in Khorramabad, Iran. In addition to collecting the personal characteristics and demographic data of the participants, questions were asked about the meantime of using computers during the day, and the standard Nordic questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the employees. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics were used to calculate the mean and standard deviation of each of the study variables. To analyze the relationships among the variables, the chi-squared test was used. All analyses were conducted using SPSS version 21. Results: The results of the study showed that the parts of the body most affected by the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders were the upper back (60%), neck (59.4%), shoulders (50%), knees (49.4%), low back (47.1%), and wrist (42.4%) in order of prevalence. There were significant relationships between work experience with the prevalence of the symptoms in the shoulders, knees, thighs, ankles, and neck in the studied participants (p<0.05). However, no significant relationships were found in the areas of elbows, wrists, low back, and upper back. There was a significant relationship between the age of the employees and the occurrence of disorders in the elbows (p<0.05), such that the prevalence of disorders in this area increases with age, while increases in disorders in other areas of the body were not observed with age. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, musculoskeletal disorders are very frequently observed among administrative employees. In this regard, the implementation of ergonomic interventional programs in the work environment seems crucial. Some of the components of such a program can include training the users of computers regarding the ergonomic principles of working with computers, designing better workstations, and work shifts. Keywords: Musculoskeletal disorders, Employees, Khorramabad.

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