The Impact of Ergonomics Intervention on Musculoskeletal Disorders among Nahavand Alimoradian Hospital Staff

One of the major problems in hospitals leading to high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the health staff is associated with patients handling. This study was aimed to reduce musculoskeletal disorders using ergonomic intervention among Nahavand Alimoradian hospital staff. This study was conducted in four wards of 160-bed Nahavand Alimoradian hospital. The data collecting tool was Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. SPSS software was used for data analysis. The questionnaire was completed، before and after educational intervention، for 46 employees of the four wards which had the most complaints about musculoskeletal disorders. Training classes were held for the target group covering prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders، proper techniques for patient handling and stretching exercises for low back pain prevention. The main results tended to be the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders especially in low back، shoulders and wrists of the employees. Low back pain was the most prevalent disorder among the personnel. The educational intervention had not significant effect on lessening the musculoskeletal disorders in hospital staff (p > 0. 05). At present، regarding enhancements in healthcare procedures، there is an urgent need to ergonomic intervention in the design of environment، tools and equipment concurrent with educational intervention.