The Influence of Psychosocial and Patient Handling Factors on the Musculoskeletal Health of Nurses

Physical Exposure during Patient Transfer and Risk of Back Injury & Low-back Pain: Prospective Cohort Study

“…Based on the apparent controversy which likely partially originates from low-quality studies aiming to identify one intervention to rule them all, it has become evident that multiple factors contribute to the high prevalence of MSDs in this population [31,50,51,55]. With the present analyses we add to the literature by showing that -even when accounting for several known confounders -consistent and appropriate use of technologically-advanced assistive devices may contribute to a protective effect against LBP in healthcare workers.…”

“…In the case of LBP, our finding that low biomechanical exposure during patient transfers is associated with a decrease in pain intensity, is adding to an already confused body of research: As is the case with the outcome of back injury, there is presently no convincing evidence of efficacy for any single intervention preventing LBP in workers [21,48,49]. Despite this conundrum, appropriate use of assistive devices during patient transfers has been associated with decreased risk of MSDs [26,31].…”

“…However, several distinct work-related factors, including but not limited to work pace, night shifts, standing work, sitting work, static postures, emotional demands, social relations at work, frequent low mood, job strain-and dissatisfaction etc., have also been shown to influence the risk of MSDs [11,31,[50][51][52][53]. In fact, nurses themselves attribute more than 50% of their work-related injuries to inadequate instruction and staffing [54], which serves to illustrate the prevailing attitudes and beliefs among healthcare workers.…”

“…Following this, some of the most promising interventions aiming to reduce the physical load among healthcare workers seem to be the ones focusing on decreasing the frequency and/or intensity of manual lifting [25][26][27][28][29]. This is often and most successfully done by increasing the use of assistive devices during patient transfers, as previous studies have reported associations between frequent use and lower risk of back injury and MSDs [30][31][32]. However, it is currently unknown whether this effect is mainly due to single/specific assistive devices or if it is related to the consistent use of a combination of assistive devices.…”

Physical exposure during patient transfer and risk of back injury & low-back pain: prospective cohort study

“…In the case of LBP, our finding that low biomechanical exposure during patient transfers is associated with a decrease in pain intensity, is adding to an already confused body of research: As is the case with the outcome of back injury, there is presently no convincing evidence of efficacy for any single intervention preventing LBP in workers [ 21 , 50 – 52 ]. Despite this apparent conundrum, appropriate use of assistive devices during patient transfers has been associated with decreased risk of MSDs [ 26 , 31 ]. However, several distinct work-related factors, including but not limited to work pace, night shifts, standing work, sitting work, static postures, emotional demands, social relations at work, frequent low mood, job strain- and dissatisfaction etc., have also been shown to influence the risk of MSDs [ 11 , 31 , 53 – 56 ].…”