Effect of Transfer, Lifting, and Repositioning (TLR) Injury Prevention Program on Musculoskeletal Injury Among Direct Care Workers

Abstract

Musculoskeletal injuries among health care workers is very high, particularly so in direct care workers involved in patient handling. Efforts to reduce injuries have shown mixed results, and strong evidence for intervention effectiveness is lacking. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Transfer, Lifting and Repositioning (TLR) program to reduce musculoskeletal injuries (MSI) among direct health care workers. This study was a pre- and post-intervention design, utilizing a nonrandomized control group. Data were collected from the intervention group (3 hospitals; 411 injury cases) and the control group (3 hospitals; 355 injury cases) for periods 1 year pre- and post-intervention. Poisson regression analyses were performed. Of a total 766 TLR injury cases, the majority of injured workers were nurses, mainly with back, neck, and shoulder body parts injured. Analysis of all injuries and time-loss rates (number of injuries/100 full-time employees), rate ratios, and rate differences showed significant differences between the intervention and control groups. All-injuries rates for the intervention group dropped from 14.7 pre-intervention to 8.1 post-intervention. The control group dropped from 9.3 to 8.4. Time-loss injury rates decreased from 5.3 to 2.5 in the intervention group and increased in the control group (5.9 to 6.5). Controlling for group and hospital size, the relative rate of all-injuries and time-loss injuries for the pre- to post-period decreased by 30% (RR = 0.693; 95% CI = 0.60-0.80) and 18.6% (RR = 0.814; 95% CI = 0.677-0.955), respectively. The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of a multifactor TLR program for direct care health workers, especially in small hospitals.

Risk Perception of Musculoskeletal Injury Among Critical Care Nurses

“…Interventions using patient-handling devices or lifting teams and particularly multifaceted programs including lift equipment, training, ergonomic assessment, and no lift policy have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of MSK injury (Black, Shah, Busch, Metcalfe, & Lim, 2011;Charney, 1997;Collins, Wolf, Bell, & Evanoff, 2004;Hignett, 2003;Nelson et al, 2006;Yassi et al, 2001). Interventions using patient-handling devices or lifting teams and particularly multifaceted programs including lift equipment, training, ergonomic assessment, and no lift policy have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of MSK injury (Black, Shah, Busch, Metcalfe, & Lim, 2011;Charney, 1997;Collins, Wolf, Bell, & Evanoff, 2004;Hignett, 2003;Nelson et al, 2006;Yassi et al, 2001).…”

Wheelchair Models With Integrated Transfer Support Mechanisms and Passive Actuation

“…1). The seat pan (2), the front bar (5), and the middle bar (6) right under the seat together form the first four-bar linkage. This linkage has one single degree-of-freedom (DOF), achieves the desired movement of the seat pan (2), and is actuated by a gas pressure spring (4).…”

“…However, multiple studies show that care personnel have an increased risk for lower back injuries [3,4]. This risk is associated with job-related load, caused by transfers among other tasks [5].…”

Ergonomic Explorations for the Safety and Health Improvement in Hospital and Healthcare Professions

“…According to a recent study, national injury costs for nursing professions in the US have been estimated to be $1.6 billion, $344 million, $192 million, $65 million, and $134 million for low back, shoulder, knee, neck, and hand/wrist cases, respectively [3]. The costs of average MSD claim have been reported between $6,190 to $93,225 [4][5][6], and average low-back claim costs ranged from $2,270 to $14,235 [7][8][9][10]. These cost figures certainly show that MSDs are significant burdens on the health care sector and specifically on the health care workers.…”