Association of working hours, job position, and BMI with work-related musculoskeletal disorders among the physiotherapists of Gujarat—an observational study

Abstract

Abstract Background Physiotherapists are prone to develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Region wise distribution and frequency of work disturbance have been studied in physiotherapists but exploration of the probable association of working hours, job position, and body mass index (BMI) with WMSDs is not adequately done in the Gujarat, India. Hence, the present study was undertaken to investigate these aspects among the physiotherapists of Gujarat. Results An online cross-sectional survey including 322 physiotherapists was conducted and the data was collected after gaining informed electronic consent. Present study showed no significant co-relation between job position (0.602), weekly working hours (0.930), and BMI (0.589) with WMSDs prevalence. The 1-year work disturbance and 1-week musculoskeletal difficulties were found to be due to low back-related complaints (35.09%, 33.85%). Conclusion It is inferred that high prevalence of WMSDs in physiotherapists may be due to one of various factors including job position, working hours, and BMI but they are not significantly correlated with WMSDs.

Keywords

• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Occupational Health
• Occupational injury
• Physical Therapists
• Prevalence
• Risk factors