The Study of the point and period prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the steel industry workers

Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most important indicators of individual health in different organizations, especially heavy industries. Therefore, this study was conducted with the main purpose of determining the point and period prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the workers of the steel industry.   This cross-sectional study was carried out from April 2015 to May 2016 in Esfahan’s Steel Company (Mobarakeh) hiring a proportional stratified random sampling method. In order to measure the range of musculoskeletal disorders, Nordic’s questioner was used in which the history of having / not having disorders related to the nine-parts of the body has been evaluated in two tracks of time including the last 7 days and 12 months, respectively, as point prevalence and period prevalence. Data were analyzed using SPPS 25, R 3.4.4 and Chi-square test.   The highest point prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the waist, knee, hand/ wrist and neck were 30.20%, 25.45%, 23.77%, and 20.70%, respectively, and also this order for period prevalence considering waist, neck, knee and hand/ wrists was reported as 49.70%, 35.50%, 20.33% and 24.90, respectively. Also, the period prevalence of cervical disorders was more affected by the point prevalence of shoulder/arm and neck disorders, and the period prevalence of leg/ankle disorders was influenced more by the point prevalence of hand/wrist, knee and waist disorders.   Throughout this study, considering the relationship between the point and the period prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, we can suggest the point prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders as a predictive tool for the period prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders.