Abstract
Background
Physiotherapist is a professional who knows human movement and ergonomics, but can be subject to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs).
Objective
To determined WRMDs epidemiology in physiotherapists working in Portugal, describing the most frequent locations, types and mechanisms of injuries, and the associated risk factors.
Methods
The sample was constituted by 1828 physiotherapists, being 1194 (65.3%) female, aged 21–66 years. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using logistic regression.
Results
WRMDs prevalence throughout professional practice, in the last 48 h and in the 12-month period were, respectively: 54.6%, 15.9%, 38.1%. In the last 12 months, 1294 injuries were measured. The injury proportion was 0.38 (CI95%:1.83–2.59) and injury rate was 0.035 injuries per 1000 h of Physiotherapist practice. The most common WRMDs types were low back pain (375; 32.72%), neck pain (26.35%) and tendinopathy (183;15.97%), most common in the shoulder (124; 67.8%). The most frequent injury mechanisms were repetitive tasks (452; 21.64%) and exhaustion from long hours of work without rest (266; 12.73%). Women were 2.13 (CI95%: 1.71–2.64;p < 0.001) more likely to develop WRMDs, physiotherapists aged 30 years or older were 1.23 (CI95%::1.01–1.50;p = 0.042), those who practiced physical exercise had 1.31 (CI95%:1.07–1.61;p = 0.010) more probabilities, those classified as overweight had 1.29 (CI95%:1.03–1.60;p = 0.024) more chances and physiotherapists who treated 50 or more patients per week were 1.37 (CI95%:1.13–1.67;p = 0.002) more likely to have WRMDs.
Conclusions
There was a high prevalence of WRMDs in the analyzed sample. It is necessary to implement labor strategies in order to reduce the risk of injuries.
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