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Musculoskeletal disorders are a serious occupational health problem, being one of the most important causes of disability. The literature highlights the nursing workers as a group at risk for developing musculoskeletal symptoms. The aim was to investigate the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms in nursing workers and their association with work role functioning and verify the relationship between pain intensity and disability.
Methods
The study consisted of 301 nursing staff from a large general hospital, with average age of 36 (S.D.,9.8) years. The workers answered a sociodemographic, the "Nordic" and "Work Role Functioning Questionnaire" (WRFQ). Those who reported musculoskeletal disorders in the past six months, in any body region, were evaluated for pain intensity ("Numeric Pain Scale") and in the perception of disability ("The Pain Disability Questionnaire" - PQD). The work capacity evaluation was correlated between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. The intensity of the pain was correlated with disability.
Results
It was found that of the 301 nursing workers, 80.7% experienced at least one musculoskeletal symptoms. In the last six months had a higher occurrence of pain in the low back (48.5%), upper back (47.5%), shoulders (37.2%) When the scores of the subjects with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) were compared to the scores of the asymptomatic, a significant difference between the two groups was obtained for each WRFQ scales, except for the Social. When assessing pain intensity in symptomatic subjects, there was an average score of 4.5, considered a medium intensity. It was found a significant correlation between pain intensity and disability (r = 0.50).
Discussion
The mean score obtained for each scale was lower for the Physical demands, Output demands and Work Scheduling demands scales than for the Social and Mental demands scales. The results suggest that the musculoskeletal symptoms are already interfering with the working life of these workers.