Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal discomfort and its impact on activity: A survey of beverage factory workers in Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Bottling workers maintain awkward postures while performing machine paced repetitive motions in many of their job tasks and therefore are predisposed to work related musculoskeletal discomfort (WMSD). There is a paucity of literature on prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal discomfort among this occupational group.

OBJECTIVE:

This study was conducted among Eastern Nigerian beverage factory workers to investigate prevalence of WMSD as a first step towards risk factors investigation and ergonomic future intervention.

METHOD:

A total of 301 workers (8 workstations) completed a modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire in this cross sectional survey.

RESULTS:

Twelve month prevalence of WMSD was 91.4% and 65.1% had been prevented from doing activity at home or workplace by WMSD in the past 12 months. Shoulder, neck and upper back in that order were the most common complaints. Prevalence of WMSD in body regions were associated with age but not with gender except for neck, upper back, shoulder, and ankle/foot complaints.

CONCLUSION:

WMSDs are very high among beverage bottling workers. Investigation into the prevailing risk factors especially the work posture and work organization/work psychosocial factors for possible risk exposure in these workers is essential for ergonomic intervention towards work injury prevention.