Assessment of the potential of distal upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders in an electronic company

Nowadays, work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common problems in the workplaces.

The goal of this study was to assess the potential of musculoskeletal disorders in upper extremity among workers of an electronic company.

In this analytical study, 50 workers were selected by simple random sampling method from assembly line workers of a TV manufacturing company. Data were collected using the strain index (SI) method. Then, Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ) was completed for every worker to determine the frequency of musculoskeletal disorders. With regards to the scoring factors in the strain index method, their jobs were categorized into safe and hazardous jobs and musculoskeletal risk factors were assessed. Data were analyzed by chi-square test.

According to the SI scoring method, 64% of cases in right hand and 42% of cases in left hand were hazardous. Most prevalent disorders were related to waist & shoulder (48%), wrist (32%), neck (28%) and back (24%), respectively. Chi-square test was performed between age, employment period, gender, job type and SI with the musculoskeletal disorders and only a significant association between age and shoulder pain was found (P<0.05).

This study showed that the frequency of the disorders especially in waist, shoulder, neck, back and unsafe cases in SI method is considerable. Developing an appropriate intervention would be effective in reducing these disorders.