Self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders among health professionals at a hospital in Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Fernandes, Carla Sílvia Neves da Nova
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Couto, Germano, Carvalho, Rogério, Ferreira, Patricia, Fernandes, Daniela
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10284/7888
• topic: Working conditions; Occupational risks; Occupational health; Allied health personnel; Musculoskeletal diseases

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are responsible for morbidity among many health professionals. Objective: To establish the prevalence of self-reported WMSDs among health professionals. Methods: Descriptive and exploratory study with health professionals at a hospital in northern Portugal. Data were collected in December 2017 by means of an electronic questionnaire applied to the total target population (n=435). We applied instruments for sociodemographic characterization, perception of knowledge on ergonomics and manual mobilization of loads, the Patient Handling Burden Scale (PHBS) and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) for self-reporting musculoskeletal symptoms. Results: The sample comprised 105 professionals, mainly nurses and nursing assistants, who exhibited high frequency of symptoms in several body areas, mainly the spine. Conclusions: WMSDs involving health professionals should be considered a problem for health institutions which do not implement interventions beyond traditional training programs, especially multifactorial programs of systemic nature.