Health of the healthcare professionals: A risk assessment study on work-related musculoskeletal disorders in a tertiary hospital, Chennai, India

Background: Healthcare profession is known to be at high risk for work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). It is estimated that almost one-third of all cases of sick leave among healthcare workers are related to WMSDs. Many studies are conducted, which measured the variety of factors across a range of occupations at different levels of risk. However, relation of current exposure to the risk of developing WMSDs is indeed an area to be looked into. Hence, the current study evaluated current exposure and risk of developing WMSDs among different groups of healthcare professionals. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional exposure-risk assessment study, conducted on 140 healthcare professionals, including dentists, laboratory technicians, nurses, physicians and physiotherapists of various clinical departments in a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India from January to June 2013. Face-to-face interviews and observational analysis of various job tasks were employed. Different combinations of validated and standardized questionnaires were used for collecting different types of data. Results: The exposure and risk assessment on occurrence of WMSDs indicates that nurses are at the highest risk for developing WMSDs, followed by dentists and physiotherapists whereas laboratory technicians and physicians have the least. Among the participants who reported MSDs pain, more than half of the cases were related to work. Conclusion: Among all the healthcare professions, nurses were found to be the high risk group, whereas physicians were found to be the low risk group. We recommend that education, awareness, and training programs on prevention and coping strategies for MSDs be made mandatory for healthcare professionals.