The painful truth: work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Australian surgeons

Abstract

Background Work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMD) is a collective term for preventable work-related disorders that cause musculoskeletal symptoms. The growing prevalence of these disorders amongst surgeons has been labelled an ‘impending epidemic’ and currently there is a lack of awareness and no existing intervention programme. Aims To estimate prevalence and identify risk factors for developing work related neck, shoulder and upper back pain in surgeons. Methods Cross-sectional questionnaire survey of surgeons and surgical trainees across Australia. We collected data on demographics, nature of regular operative work, hours working/operating per week, and prevalence and severity of musculoskeletal disorders based on the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire [1]. We assessed associations between categorical predictors and pain over 7 days and 12 months using Pearson’s chi-square test. We assessed associations involving continuous variables using Student’s t-test. Tests were two-tailed and assessed at the 5% alpha level. Results From ~2058 recipients, 329 (16%) responded; 137 (42%) surgeons reported shoulder, neck or upper back pain in a 7-day period, 245 (75%) reported pain and 101 (31%) had pain preventing normal work in a 12-month period. Significant predictors of increased prevalence included female sex (P < 0.001), decreasing age (P < 0.01) and fewer years working (P < 0.01). Body mass index (BMI) and mode of practise did not significantly affect prevalence of WRMDs. Conclusions The prevalence of WRMDs amongst surgeons is high, females and younger surgeons reporting increased rates. There is a need to build awareness and educate surgical trainees about WRMDs.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Complaints in Surgeons

“…Our findings are in agreement with previous results, suggesting that surgeons are at high risk for developing WMSCs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Alnefaie et al [12] reported that 80% of respondent suffered from musculoskeletal manifestations related to surgery, with back and neck being the most affected parts (71.1% and 59.8%, respectively).…”

Feasibility study of the Vitom 3D exoscope in ENT surgery using an animal model: relevance to coronavirus disease 2019

“…Any measures to improve this has the potential to reduce the significant healthcare costs and morbidity associated with this common problem. 19 Although the ability to operate comfortably in a natural posture is an advantage, there are no ergonomic assessment studies in the literature with the Vitom 3D exoscope because of its novelty. Ninety-four per cent of participants in our study found manipulating the console straightforward and intuitive, and 83 per cent felt that the Vitom 3D system allowed precise control of their movements.…”

Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Interventional Radiologists

“…Previous studies of SIR membership by Reddy et al (22) in 2006 and Prince et al (23) in 2007 used similar Web-based surveys with email invitations and successfully recruited a higher number of respondents (35% and 48%, respectively). In contrast, Grant et al (24) surveyed Australian surgeons, and Ho et al (25) surveyed American otolaryngologists, using an emailed NMQ Webbased survey invitation format with response rates of 16% and 12.5%, respectively. This suggests that the low response rate might have been due to factors related to the subject matter.…”