Prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms among office workers.
BACKGROUND
To date, no study has investigated the prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms in all the body regions in the general population of office workers.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the 12-month prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms in the head/neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists/hands, upper back, low back, hips, knees and ankles/feet among office workers.


METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey using a descriptive questionnaire distributed to 2000 office workers in 54 workplaces.


RESULTS
A total of 1428 subjects (71%) returned the questionnaire, of whom 1185 were eligible for the study. The annual prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms attributed to work was 63%. Sites of symptoms, in order of prevalence, were head/neck (42%), low back (34%), upper back (28%), wrists/hands (20%), shoulders (16%), ankles/feet (13%), knees (12%), hips (6%) and elbows (5%). Female office workers were more likely to report symptoms in the head/neck, shoulder, upper back and ankle/foot regions than male counterparts (P < 0.05). Office workers younger than 30 years were more likely to have symptoms in the upper back than those older than 49 years (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Musculoskeletal symptoms are common among office workers with a high proportion experiencing symptoms in the spine. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in some body regions is dependent on gender and age. This indicates a need to develop specific strategies to reduce the occurrence of such symptoms among office workers.
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. prawit.j@chula.ac.th
Prawit
P
Janwantanakul
Praneet
P
Pensri
Viroj
V
Jiamjarasrangsri
Thanes
T
Sinsongsook
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016288:Computer Terminals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires