The effect of corrective exercises on Musculoskeletal disorders

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are the most important factors of absent from work, increased costs and human damages experienced by workers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of nurses in Al-Zahra hospital and the effect of eight-week selected corrective exercises and ergonomic interventions on them. Nordic questionnaire was used for studying the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders; also, for checking risk exposure of musculoskeletal disorders in 6 occupational tasks, quick exposure check (QEC) was applied. Nordic questionnaire was distributed among 216 nurses; 29 out of them were suffering from musculoskeletal disorders who were identified and participated as final samples in the selected corrective exercise and ergonomic interventions for 8 weeks. The most frequent musculoskeletal disorders were in the following order: lumbar disorders 64.4%, knee pain 51.4%, neck problems 48.6%, shoulder pain 43.5%, wrist disorders 40.7%,lower back pain 29.6%, foot and ankle problems 29.2%, thigh pain 24.5% and finally, elbow pain 15.3%. According to the QEC score, 89% of the tasks of nurses were in high or very high level risk. Scores of QEC in different surveillance techniques showed that among the other tasks, the highest score was allocated to patients transfer (more than 70%). In other words, with respect to the risk level, it was on the very high level and corrective exercises had to be enforced immediately. Having done exercises for eight weeks and ergonomic interventions, patients found a significant improvement in lumbar, shoulder, neck and wrist/hand disorders (P<0.05); i.e.,, neck (63.3%), lumbar (50%), shoulder (61.5%) and wrist pains (55.5%) were relieved. In conclusion, the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the nurses studied was relatively high. The corrective exercises applied for nurses reduced the severity and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. Then, correction of patients transfer and improving conditions to move up patients are recommended.