Effect of anthropometric and demographic factors on musculoskeletal disorders in nurses’ aides

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Laal, Fereydoon^{a; b} | Mohammadian, Farough^c | Khoshakhlagh, Amirhossein^d | Madvari, Rohollah Fallah^e | Dehghan, Somayeh Farhang^{f; *} | Pordanjani, Sajjad Rahimi^{g; h}

Affiliations: [a] Student Research Committee, Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health & Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [b] Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran | [c] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Environmental Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran | [d] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran | [e] Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran | [f] Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research Center, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [g] Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran | [h] Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Somayeh Farhang Dehghan, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research Center, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Tel.: +98 2122432040; E-mail: somayeh.farhang@sbmu.ac.ir.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Nurses’ aides usually face various stressors, making them prone to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). OBJECTIVE:This study evaluates the effect of ergonomic and anthropometric indices, postural risk, and demographic variables on MSDs in nurses’ aides. METHODS:Demographic variables, anthropometric dimensions, postural risk level (RL), and related percentiles of 75 nurses’ aides were examined using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) software, caliper, and body map questionnaire. Pearson correlation coefficient, univariate and multivariate tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS:The results showed that the RL of QEC in both groups of males and females was 73.67±22.34 (RL = 4) and 65.34±18.38 (RL = 3), respectively. The level of MSDs in the lumbar, thigh, and leg areas was higher than in other areas. Also, increasing age and work experience, and BMI were significantly associated with increasing disorders in the hands, wrists, and shoulders, respectively (P < 0.05). The results showed that an increase in some anthropometric indices such as body height, buttock, knee, popliteal height, abdomen depth, standing grip access limit, sitting grip access limit increased disorders in the hands and wrists. Also, MSDs were predicted in different areas of the nurses’ aides’ bodies using regression models, which was significant in the hands, wrists, elbows, legs, and shoulders (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:The results showed that there was a significant difference between male and female nurses in most aspects of anthropometry and the risk level of QEC. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to anthropometric dimensions, and demographic diversity to design tools and workstations.

Keywords: Anthropometric indices, risk level, demographic variable, posture assessment

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-210027

Journal: Work, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 1205-1213, 2022