Awareness of Ergonomics and its Relationship with the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders: a study on physiotherapists in Shiraz, Iran

摘要

Background: Ergonomics is a science dealing with human's physical and mental abilities andlimitations, and inattention to this science leads to physical injuries among the staff andconsequently affects the efficiency and productivity of the organisations. The aim of thisstudy was to evaluate the awareness of Shiraz physiotherapists about ergonomics and itsrelation with the prevalence of their musculoskeletal disorders.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2015 on all physiotherapists workingin Shiraz hospitals. Data were collected through a questionnaire about the awareness ofergonomics and analyzed through SPSS22 software package.Results: Mean age and work experience of the physiotherapists were respectively 34.06±8.5and 9.38±7.45 years. Mean awareness of subjects about ergonomics principles, workconditions and the rate of occupational injuries and work problems were respectively 3.15 ±0.5, 2.70 ± 0.52 and 1.80 ± 0.82 from 5. There was a significant relationship betweenawareness of ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders (P=0.04). Increase in awareness ofergonomics was associated with decrease of the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (P=0.04, CI95% =0.086-0.995, OR=0.259).Conclusion: The results show that increased awareness of ergonomics leads tomusculoskeletal disorders reduction. Therefore, compiled educational programs can have asignificant impact on learning about right body postures during work and can consequentlyreduce musculoskeletal disorders and occupational injuries and problems.