Musculoskeletal disorders among surgeons working in several hospitals of Tehran, Iran (2015)

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as one of the main health problems among healthcare workers. Adverse symptoms and disorders of the musculoskeletal system represent an important cause of occupational morbidity for employees around the world.
The present study was performed with the aim to identify and characterize musculoskeletal symptoms in a sample including oral and maxillofacial surgeons In Tehran, Capital city of Iran. A cross-sectional identity self-reported Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was sent to 45 oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Study population completed the Standardized Nordic questionnaire.
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software. Of the study sample (n = 40), 63.0% and 37.0% of the participants were men and women, respectively. Musculoskeletal symptoms in the lower back with 56.8% were reported to be the most incident symptom, followed by the neck, upper back, and shoulders with a rate of 84.6%, 44.1%, and 37.4%, respectively. The most common symptoms were stiffness in the neck, pain in the lower back, numbness in the wrist/hand, weakness in the wrist/hand, and contusion in the shoulder as 84.0 %, 64.3%, 18.5%, 29.0%, and 42.0%, respectively. As the weight of most of the participants was in the normal range, body mass index (BMI) was not associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
This study showed a high incidence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms in some body regions among Iranian oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This indicated the need for developing occupational health programs for managing MSDs among surgeons.