The Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Assessment of Body Status among Employees of Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz

Postural evaluation can assist in detecting or predicting the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and to assess the body status of employees of administrative departments of Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz during work using RULA method. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 266 university staffs using Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). The workstations of the employed individuals were selected using RULA questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS Version 16 using Chi-square and independent t-test. The participants of the study included 47.7 percent of female and 52.3 percent of male employees. The results showed that backache (53.4%) and the neck ache (53.4%) had the highest prevalence within the employees. In addition, 62.5 percent of people were at the corrective levels of 2 and 3. Inappropriate postures can act as an important risk factor regarding musculoskeletal disorders. The results revealed that women were at a higher risk of ergonomic risk factors.