Comparison of the prevalence of neck pain and disability among nurses working at intensive care units and general wards

This study was conducted to compare the prevalence of neck pain and disability among nurses in intensive care and general wards.

Nursing is known as one of the ten occupations that are associated with musculoskeletal complications. In has been reported that neck and shoulder disorder are more common among nurses with high physical workload than those with low physical workload. So far, few studies have been performed on neck problems in nurses working at intensive care unit.

In this cross-sectional descriptive-comparative study, 40 nurses from intensive care units and 40 nurses from general wards of Rasool Akram hospital, Tehran, Iran, were selected by convenience sampling method. Data collection in both groups was done through completing a checklist of demographic characteristics, Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NDPS) questionnaires by participants. The data was analyzed in SPSS version 22 using descriptive and inferential statistics.

The prevalence of neck pain and disability (measured by NDI and NPDS) in all nurses was 77.5 percent and 60 percent, respectively; 90 percent and 70 percent in nurses working at the intensive care units, and 65 percent and 50 percent in nurses working at general wards. The difference in scores measured by NDI was statistically significant between nurses working at the intensive care units and those working at general wards (P=0.014).

The prevalence of neck pain was significantly high in nurses, which could be due to their high workload that requires appropriate preventive measures and reduction of their physical workload.