Musculoskeletal Disorders among Healthcare Network Staff using Rapid Office Strain Assessment (2019)

Work related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are one of the most common complaints among staff doing static or repetitious tasks using the upper limbs and individuals who work with computer for hours. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of MSDs among computer users in the office department of Healthcare Network of Iran.

This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 105 computer users in the Healthcare Network who were selected through census sampling method in 2018. The data collecting tools included the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaires (CMDQ) and the Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) checklist. To investigate the relationship between demographic variables and the final ROSA score, Analysis of Variance ANOVA and T-test were used.

Totally, 105 computer users with mean age of 38.7 ± 7.1 years and mean work experience 7.4 ± 14.7 years were assessed. Discomfort and musculoskeletal pain in the neck and hip were more common than the other parts. The results of the ROSA method showed that the final mean ROSA score was 5.38 ± 1.07. About 37.1% of the cases need just notification and 62.9% of them need ergonomic intervention. Moreover, gender and work experience had a significant effect on the final ROSA score (P<0.001).

A high prevalence of MSDs was observed in the neck and hip regions of computer users. Given the ROSA score, which was at notification area, a series of ergonomic and managerial measures are needed to improve the conditions of the workstations and reduce the prevalence of MSDs.