title: Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and physiological stress among adult, male potato cultivators of West Bengal, India.
abstract: A total of 70 male potato cultivators were selected randomly from the villages of West Bengal, India, to evaluate musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), thermal stress, and physiological stress and were compared with 70 controls from the urban sector of West Bengal. Modified Nordic questionnaire studies and a posture analysis were performed in for the male potato cultivators by the Rapid Entire Body Assessment method. Most of the participants suffered discomfort at different parts of the body, especially in the lower back, knee, ankle, and feet regions. Potato cultivators suffered maximum discomfort during spading, planting seeds, weeding, picking crops, and sprinkling water. Therefore, it can be concluded that prolonged work activity, high repetitiveness, and remaining constantly in an awkward posture for a prolonged period of time may lead to MSDs. This study also revealed that a significant physiological load is exerted on the potato cultivators, as shown by increased heart rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, South Calcutta Girls' College, University of Calcutta, India dr.banibrata@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Banibrata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University College Science & Technology, University of Calcutta, India.
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gangopadhyay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D000067565:Farmers; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011198:Solanum tuberosum; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult