Prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders in inside and outside-city taxi drivers; Andisheh city, 2011

The risk of musculoskeletal disorders is high in taxi drivers، because they have long-time exposure to machine vibration، statics and non-mobility work، prolonged sitting and poor posture while driving. The present study investigated the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and its related factors in taxi drivers. This cross-sectional and analytical-descriptive study was performed on 300 taxi drivers who were randomly selected. Data were collected using the standardized Nordic questionnaire for analysis of musculoskeletal disorders symptoms، Body Map chart and demographic questionnaire. The gathered data was been analyzed by Mann-Whitney، Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA tests. P-value was 0. 05. The highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the past 12 months was related to low back (51. 2%) and knee (41. 8%) and the lowest was in elbow (10. 7%). Knee pain led to the most inhibition from work and daily activity (84. 3%). Work environments played the greatest role in creating pain in low back (91. 1%)، shoulder (89%)، neck (92. 7%)، and wrist and hand (96. 8%). The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders especially in low back and knee was high in taxi drivers that probably are due to long-term driving and bad posture. Musculoskeletal disorders could be prevented by education of correct setting while driving، doing stretch exercises، having sufficient rest in day and night and design of ergonomically seat based on Iranian anthropometric sizes.