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
. 2023 Aug;96(6):883-889.
doi: 10.1007/s00420-023-01976-7. Epub 2023 May 10.

Incidence of shoulder disorders in a cohort of healthcare workers from 2009 to 2020

Thomas Iavernig  1 , Marta Zanette  2 , Andrea Miani  3 , Federico Ronchese  3 , Francesca Larese Filon  3
Affiliations

Incidence of shoulder disorders in a cohort of healthcare workers from 2009 to 2020

Thomas Iavernig et al. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To estimate the incidence of shoulder disorders in a cohort of Health Care Workers (HCWs).

Methods: 4406 workers employed from 2009 to 2020, were included in the study. Occupational risk factors and jobs were assessed according to working history. Incident cases were defined in case of shoulder pain associated with functional limitations during the medical examination. The Cox regression model was used to calculate the Hazard Ratio (HR) for different work activities, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and previous musculoskeletal injuries, using clerks as the reference category.

Results: The incidence rates of shoulder musculoskeletal disorder for men and women were 13.1 for 1000 person-years (CI 95% 10.6-16.3) and 20.1 for 1000 person-years (CI 95% 17.8-22.6) respectively. The adjusted HR was significantly increased with age (1.06, CI 95% 1.05-1.07), outpatient health activities (2.82, CI 95% 1.89-4.219), and wards health activity (2.37, CI 95% 1.68-3.33).

Conclusion: HCWs with high biomechanical risk such as nurses and healthcare assistants had a higher incidence of shoulder disorders. Actions are needed for better prevention in health care assistance.

Keywords: Cohort; Epidemiology; Healthcare workers; Incidence; Occupational; Shoulder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All Authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

References

    1. Abate M, Vanni D, Pantalone A, Salini V. Cigarette smoking and musculoskeletal disorders. Muscles, Ligaments Tendons J. 2013;3(2):63–69. doi: 10.32098/mltj.02.2013.03. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alexopoulos EC, Burdorf A, Kalokerinou A. Risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among nursing personnel in Greek hospitals. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2003;76:289e294. doi: 10.1007/s00420-003-0442-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersen LL, Hansen K, Mortensen OS, Zebis MK. Prevalence and anatomical location of muscle tenderness in adults with nonspecific neck/shoulder pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011;12:169. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-12-169. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Battevi N, Menoni O. Screening of risk from patient manual handling with MAPO method. Work (Reading, Mass.) 2012;41:1920–1927. doi: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0408-1920. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bernal D, Campos-Serna J, Tobias A, Vargas-Prada S, Benavides FG, Serra C. Work-related psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal disorders in hospital nurses and nursing aides: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Nurs Stud. 2015;52(2):635–648. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.11.003. - DOI - PubMed