Current prevalence and prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physicians for internal medical examination in tertiary hospitals in a city of China / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the current prevalence and prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among physicians for internal medical examination, and to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of WMSDs in physicians for internal medical examination.@*Methods@#In February 2017, 326 physicians for internal medical examination were randomly selected from 5 general tertiary hospitals and 2 specialized tertiary hospitals in a city of China. A questionnaire was designed according to the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the occupational features of doctors in China to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain over the past year, the cognitive attitude to WMSDs, the knowledge of WMSDs prevention, and ways to get the knowledge of WMSDs prevention.@*Results@#In the tertiary hospitals of this city, the symptoms of WMSDs were mainly seen in the wrist (75.78%) , neck (67.19%) , and lower back (58.59%) among male physicians, and in the wrist (73.74%) , lower back (70.95%) , and upper back (60.89%) among female physicians. Compared with the female physicians, the male physicians had a significantly increased detection rate of symptoms of WMSDs in the neck (P<0.05) and significantly reduced detection rates of symptoms of WMSDs in the upper and lower back (P<0.05). There were significant differences between the detection rates of symptoms of WMSDs in the neck, wrist, and lower back within the past 12 months, 7 days, and >1 month (P<0.01). The rates of knowledge of the severity and prevention of WMSDs were significantly different between the physicians with different working years and professional titles (P<0.01) .@*Conclusion@#Among the physicians for internal medical examination in the tertiary hospitals of this city, WMSDs are mostly seen in the wrist, neck, and waist, and the knowledge of WMSDs prevention varies with different working years and professional titles.