Investigating the Relationship between Working Ability and the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders During COVID-19 Pandemic in in the Staff of Saveh Comprehensive Urban and Rural Health Service Centers

Health workers are the frontline of the fight against Coronavirus. During the Pandemic, these jobs, which had a lot of referrals, were under high work pressure, that can increase the chances of suffering from musculoskeletal disorders and affect their working ability. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between work ability and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the staff of Saveh's comprehensive urban and rural health service centers during the Corona Pandemic in 2022.

In this cross-sectional study, 197 employees of comprehensive urban and rural health service centers in Saveh city were randomly selected. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and working ability were evaluated by the developed Nordic questionnaire and WAI (Work Ability Index), respectively. Data analysis was done using Pearson correlation coefficient tests and Two-way logistic regression.

The average working ability of employees was equal to 34.86 ± 7.61. The most common areas involved in musculoskeletal disorders were the back (63%), neck (30%) and knees (17.8%) with the frequency of 125, 63 and 39 people, respectively. The index of working ability on musculoskeletal disorders in hip and thigh, hand and wrist, neck and back areas was significant (P ≤ 0.05). Also, the working ability was lower in cases with a history of corona virus infection (P = 0.001).

Considering the effect of working ability on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, it is suggested that during the COVID-19 epidemic, identification of factors affecting the reduction of work ability and the implementation of ergonomic interventions should be prioritized.