Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in female Swedish physical therapists with more than 15 years of job experience: prevalence and associations with work exposures

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in female physiotherapists with more than 15 years of job experience. A self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to 203 female physiotherapists with more than 15 years of job experience. Unconditional logistic regression was used to study the association between job exposures and the risk for WRMDs. The questionnaire was returned by 131 physiotherapists (64.5%). Of 99 subjects who answered specific questions about WRMDs, 52 (53.5%) were affected by WRMDs in at least one body part. Regions most affected were the hand/wrist (n=31; 58.5%) and the lower back (n=30; 56.5%). For hand/wrist pain, associations were found with: orthopedic manual therapy techniques (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.2-13.1); working in awkward or cramped positions (OR=4.96; 95% CI=1.3-18.7); and high psychological job demands (OR=4.34; 95% CI=1.2-15.0). For lower back pain, associations were found with: working in awkward or cramped positions (adjusted OR=6.37; 95% CI=1.6-24.7); and kneeling or squatting (adjusted OR=4.76; 95% CI=1.4-15.9). More than half of the respondents reported WRMDs. General physical and psychosocial work-related exposures, as well as specific therapy tasks, were strongly associated with WRMDs. Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to determine the direction of causality.