Prevalence, workplace risk factors and coping strategies of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers in tertiary care hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders cause a significant occupational problem for healthcare workers (HCWs). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to measure the prevalence, associated occupational risk factors and coping strategies for work-related musculoskeletal disorders among HCWs working in five hospitals in Faisalabad, Pakistan. METHODS: A previously used validated questionnaire, which consisted of four sections, including demographic information, occupational health questions, and associated occupational risk factors and coping strategies, was used as a survey tool to collect data on health workers working in five hospitals located in the Faisalabad District. RESULTS: The finding of this study revealed that 7-day and 12-month prevalence rates of WMSDs were 1226 (83.45%) and 1107 (75.35%) respectively among HCWs and most common WMSDs was low back pain 576 (39.2%) followed by the neck 217 (15%) and ankles 186 (13%) according to body sites. The probability of developing WRMSDs was higher among physiotherapists (OR = 3.63, 95% CI: 1.39-9.51), participants with rank 18 (OR = 4.17, 95% CI: 2.18-7.96), and HCWs who work in primary care (OR = 8.94, 95% CI: 3.47-23.04). The most important risk factor reported was treating an excessive number of patients in one day (66.8%). The main coping strategies reported in this study were to get someone else to help in handling a heavy patient (90%). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the most prevalent WMSD among HCWs was lower back pain. Sedentary lifestyle was shown to be a positive risk factor for acquiring WMSDs. Additionally, the primary risk factor discovered was treating an excessive number of patients, probably owing to a shortage of healthcare staff.

Spatial organization of olfactory receptor gene choice in the complete V1R-related ORA family of zebrafish.

The vertebrate sense of smell employs four main receptor families for detection of odors, among them the V1R/ORA family, which is unusually small and highly conserved in teleost fish. Zebrafish possess just seven ORA receptors, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the expression patterns of the entire family. The olfactory organ of zebrafish is representative for teleosts, cup-shaped, with lamella covered with sensory epithelium protruding into the cup from a median raphe. We have performed quantitative in situ hybridization on complete series of horizontal cryostat sections of adult zebrafish olfactory organ, and have analysed the location of ora-expressing cells in three dimensions, radial diameter, laminar height, and height-within-the-organ. We report broadly overlapping, but distinctly different distributions for all ora genes, even for ora3a and ora3b, the most recent gene duplication. Preferred positions in different dimensions are independent of each other. This spatial logic is very similar to previous reports for the much larger families of odorant receptor (or) and V2R-related olfC genes in zebrafish. Preferred positions for ora genes tend to be more central and more apical than those we observed for these other two families, consistent with expression in non-canonical sensory neuron types.