Musculoskeletal disorder and its correlation with the awareness of ergonomics factors in nurses working at some university hospitals, Tehran, Iran (2018)

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are from among the most prevalent occupational health problems leading to high costs and reduced productivity in nurses. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in nurses and their correlation with demographic factors and awareness of ergonomics at the selected hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 150 nurses of the selected hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Research data were collected using the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) and the ergonomic knowledge questionnaire. In addition, descriptive statistics, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the Chi-square test, and the Spearman’s test were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the age and work experience of the participants were 32.67 ± 8.63 and 7.44 ± 8.84 years, respectively. Approximately 67.3% (101 individuals) had a bachelor’s degree. According to the results, the average level of the nurses’ awareness of ergonomics, working conditions, and occupational injuries were 3.14 ± 0.72 (medium level), 0.68 ± 2.58 (very weak level), and 0.95 ± 2.10 (very weak level), respectively. The awareness of ergonomics and working conditions in all areas had a significant negative correlation with the severity of discomfort (p<0.05). Discussion: The results showed that the nurses’ awareness of ergonomics and working conditions were medium and poor, respectively. In addition, it was demonstrated that the use of ergonomic interventions to improve working conditions could play a significant role in reducing the nurses’ occupational injuries.