Prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders among the Iranian working population in different sectors of industries

Abstract

MSDs are one of the major causes of occupational disease in the work places and disability among the work force. A Meta analysis was used to determine the prevalence of the work-related MSDs among the Iranian working population in different occupational sectors. Data were collected from 50 research papers, scientific reports that have addressed the problems on musculoskeletal symptoms for workers in industry, service and health sectors. The techniques were used to study including Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Rapid entire body assessment (REBA), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), PATH (Posture, Activity, Tools and Handling), Ovako Working Analysis System (OWAS), self-report and the Quick Exposure Check (QEC). Workers were with a mean age of 36.5 years with the average 16.5 years duration of employment in their jobs. Prevalence of MSDs in the target anatomical areas included Neck ranged from (20–81 %), shoulder (30–80 %), low back (30–70 %), Hand and wrist (20–60 %), Knee (40–70 %) and foot (20 %). Conclusion: The highest disorder were observed in back and knee. The epidemiological evidence on the work-relatedness of these disorders is needed thus high quality studies in cause and effect were recommended to show this association. The results likely to be useful to researchers and managers to minimise the occurrence of these disorders through prevention measure.