Prevalence of lower limb pain and its associated factors among healthcare workers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15282/jmes.11.3.2017.13.0264Keywords:
lower limb pain; healthcare workers; prevalence; musculoskeletal disorders.Abstract
Healthcare workers (HCW) are known to have high prevalence of musculoskeletal problems. Nevertheless, the knowledge on lower limb pain (LLP) and its risk factors is still lacking due to the lack of studies done on this body region. A cross-sectional study was therefore carried out among HCW in a district hospital in order to identify the prevalence of LLP among HCW and its associated risk factors. LLP was assessed through Malay-translated Standardised Nordic Questionnaire and other personal and work risk factors were elicited. It was found that the majority of the HCW were exposed to prolonged walking (73.6%) while 33.8% experienced their jobs as passive and another 19% found theirs as highly strained. The prevalence of LLP that lasted more than a day in the previous 12 months was 64.3%, while the prevalence for chronic duration (more than three months) was 18.0%. Chronic LLP among this population was associated with obesity, history of previous injury and work category. Other physical and psychosocial work factors were not found to be associated with chronic LLP. It could be concluded that LLP is prevalent among HCW. However, prospective cohort study is recommended to ascertain the associations of the work factors and chronic LLP.
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