Frequent musculoskeletal symptoms and reduced health-related quality of life among industrial workers

Abstract

The high percentage of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) found in studies of general populations and various occupational groups underlines the need to distinguish between severely and mildly affected individuals. To investigate associations between MSS and quality of life, we examined the frequency of MSS on a five-point scale, health-related quality of life (SF-36) and sickness absence among 5654 workers in the aluminium industry. High frequencies of MSS from all body parts were related to lower scores on the SF-36 and increased sickness absence. This relationship was strongest for MSS from the lower back. Workers who reported low back MSS 'very often' had a mean role--physical score equivalent to that of the 15th percentile of the general population. These results show that workers who reported MSS often or very often were severely affected, and this scale can therefore be used to distinguish individuals at high risk for reduced health-related quality of life and sickness absence.

Portuguese version of the standardized Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire: cross cultural and reliability

“…The musculoskeletal symptomatology can be related with the individual characteristics such as age (Morken et al 2002) but several studies have revealed a narrow correlation with working conditions. Often the workers are forced into repetitive and vibratory movements (Cherry et al 2001;Dovrat and Katz-Leurer 2007;Guo 2002) to lifting and transporting weight, (Hoogendoorn et al 2002;Tveito et al 2004) to incorrect postures for long periods of time (Dovrat and KatzLeurer 2007;Hoogendoorn et al 2002;Jansen et al 2004;Simoneau 1996) (Chyuan et al 2004;Häkkänen et al 2001;Jansen et al 2004;Lemasters et al 1998;Moraes et al 2002;National Health Committee 2000).…”

Qualidade de vida de trabalhadores com LER/DORT e lombalgia ocupacional atendidos no Cerest de Guarulhos, São Paulo

“…Esses resultados corroboram várias pesquisas que têm constatado os efeitos deletérios dos distúrbios osteomusculares e de outras doenças crônicas na QV dos indivíduos afetados 7,[23][24][25][26][27] . Obs.…”

Differences in Health Complaints among Taiwanese Workers in Different Occupational Categories

“…Musculoskeletal discomfort has been evidenced to be one of the major problems in occupational health in many countries 25,26) . Frequent musculoskeletal problems threaten the quality of life significantly 27) , and this issue should therefore draw more attention. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders mainly arise from various ergonomic risk factors, such as high force, repetitive movements, unusual posture or prolonged standing or sitting 28) .…”