[The actual condition of musculoskeletal disorders of workers working at new special nursing homes for the aged in Osaka Prefecture--comparison of musculoskeletal disorder between manager's awareness and care workers' complaints by questionnaire survey].
In order to examine the actual condition of health problems of workers working at new special nursing homes for the aged, we conducted an interview survey with the managers and a questionnaire survey among the workers. Subjects of the interview survey were managers at the 7 nursing homes. Subjects of the questionnaire survey were 362 workers employed at the 7 nursing homes, 214 care workers (CWs) and 104 workers other than care workers (non-CWs); 299 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 82.6%. We asked the managers "How many CWs are complaining of low back pain (LBP) and upper extremity pain at your nursing home?" One manager answered that 80% of CWs were complaining of LBP, but other managers answered that a few but no more than 5 CWs were complaining of LBP. On the other hand, the prevalence of LBP among CWs by the questionnaire survey was high. The point prevalence of LBP was 70.0%, the one month prevalence of LBP was 81.6%, and the period prevalence of LBP in present job was 88.6%. The managers had less interest in upper extremity pain than in LBP. But more than 60% of CWs had complained of upper extremity pain in the previous 1 month. Seventy-three percent of CWs had not received any education about work-related musculoskeletal disorders although about half of them had got some education or training to minimize the risk of injury in training school. Regarding female workers (77% of all CWs, 73% of all non-CWs), the percentages of current smokers and night shift workers were higher in CWs than in non-CWs with statistically significant differences. The percentages of workers working without work breaks and working overtime were higher in non-CWs than in CWs with statistically significant differences. For prevalence of LBP among female CWs and female non-CWs, the workers having LBP now, having had LBP in present job, and having first experienced LBP in present job were higher in CWs than in non-CWs with statistically significant differences. All nursing homes surveyed had provided no special health examination for LBP. For managers to grasp the actual condition of musculoskeletal disorders of workers working at the nursing homes for the aged, we recommend that care workers should have a special health examination for LBP.
Tomioka
Kimiko
K
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Nara Medical School of Medicine, Kashihara City, Nara, Japan. tkimiko@naramed-u.ac.jp
Matsunaga
Ichiro
I
D000288:Administrative Personnel; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007866:Leg; D017116:Low Back Pain; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D010146:Pain; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce