Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar;52(3):463-475.
doi: 10.18502/ijph.v52i3.12130.

Prevalence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Nurses: A Meta-Analysis

Weige Sun  1 , Lishi Yin  2 , Tianqiao Zhang  3 , Huixin Zhang  1 , Ran Zhang  1 , Weixin Cai  1
Affiliations
Review

Prevalence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Nurses: A Meta-Analysis

Weige Sun et al. Iran J Public Health. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal diseases (WMSDs) have a greater negative impact on nurses' physical and mental health. However, the epidemiologic characteristics of nurse WMSDs are unclear, and the reported prevalence of WMSDs varies widely. The aim of this meta-analysis was to provide a quantitative synthesis of WMSDs' prevalence in nurses and estimate the pooled prevalence of its.

Methods: The PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CINAHL, Ovid, WANFANG, VIP, China Knowledge Integrated, and CBM databases were searched for relevant studies. The retrieval period extended from database initiation to Mar 2022. After data extraction and quality assessment, a meta-analysis was performed using the Stata 16.0 software package.

Results: Overall, 42 articles were included, yielding a total sample size of 36,934. The annual prevalence of WMSDs among nurses was found to be 77.2% (95% confidence interval: 0.725-0.819). The three anatomical areas with the highest prevalence of WMSDs among nurses were the lower back (at 59.5%), neck (at 53.0%) and shoulder (at 46.8%). Nurses in developed countries have a higher prevalence of WMSDs than those in developing countries.

Conclusion: There was currently moderate evidence to suggest a high prevalence of WMSDs in nurses. National policies should aim to reduce their prevalence in this population.

Keywords: Musculoskeletal disorders; Nurse; Prevalence; Work.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1:
Fig. 1:
Literature selection process and results
Fig. 2:
Fig. 2:
Forest plot of the annual prevalence of WMSDs in nurses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hartvigsen J, Hancock M J, Kongsted A, et al. (2018). What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention. Lancet, 391(10137): 2356–2367. - PubMed
    1. Guifan S. Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine. 7th Edition. Beijing: People's Health Publishing House, 2012.
    1. S P, O A. (2018). Evaluation of the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in nurses: a systematic review. Med Sci Int Med J, 7(3): 479–488.
    1. Alnaser MZ, Aljadi SH. (2019). Physical therapists with work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the State of Kuwait: A comparison across countries and health care professions. Work, 63(2): 261–268. - PubMed
    1. Xi Z, Suzhai T, Ning J, et al. (2020). Application of MAPO index in risk assessment of WMSDs for nursing staff carried patients with hands in China. Chinese J Ind Med, 33(2): 99–103.

LinkOut - more resources