Abstract:
Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders refer to disorders of muscles, skeleton,
and related tissues as a results of work related event or activities. Musculoskeletal disorders
represent a significant occupational problem among nurses. However, there is limited
evidence on work related musculoskeletal disorder and its associated factors among nurses in
the study area.
Objective: To assess work related musculoskeletal disorder & its associated factors among
nurses working in North Showa Zone Governmental Hospitals, Amhara, Ethiopia, 2023
Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted in North showa Zone
Governmental hospitals. The study was conducted on 369 participant and the study
participants were selected by simple random sampling technique. Dutch musculoskeletal
questionnaire was used to measure work related musculoskeletal disorder The data was
entered in to - by using Epi-data version 4.6.0 and then it was exported to SPSS version 26.0
for further analysis. Bivariable and multivariable binary regression analysis was done. The
odds ratio was used to examine associations between dependent & independent variables. A
statistically significant association was declared using an adjusted odds ratio with a 95%
confidence interval and a p-value of < 0.05. Model fitness was checked by Hosmer and
Lemeshow goodness of model test.
Result: A total of 369 respondents were participated in this study with a response rate of
100%. In this study, the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses
was 54.7% (95% CI: 49.6, 59.6). Nurses age greater than 40 years old (AOR=2.57, 95% CI:
1.37, 6.49), nurses who works more than 40 hour per week (AOR=2.57, 95% CI: 1.52, 4.35)
and work in hospitals with a shortage of nursing staff (AOR=1.51, 95% CI: 1.51(1.07, 2.71)
were factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of work-related Musculoskeletal
Disorder in this study was high. Age >40 years, weekly working hour and staff shortage were
significantly associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorder. Thus, emphasis should
be given to those hospitals which had nursing staff shortage.
Key words: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders, cross-sectional, Nurses, North Sowa,
Ethiopia
