title: Association of age and physical job demands with musculoskeletal disorders in nurses.
abstract: A cross-sectional study design was applied on 273 nurses to investigate associations of physical job demands, age, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in nursing. Concurrently, participants reported on various physical job demands with a standardized questionnaire for Hospital Work. As a special contribution, this investigation illustrates findings on MSDs provided by a standardized physical examination to questionnaire data. MSD located in the lower back (8.7%) had the highest frequency, followed by the neck (7.3%), the shoulders (6.9%), and the knees (2.2%). There were significant differences in the frequencies of MSD between the young/middle age-group and the old age-group in most locations, while the only significant difference between the young and the middle age-group was found for shoulder-MSD. Furthermore high levels of physical job demands increased the risk of MSD significantly (OR = 5.7, 1.55-20.96) in all age-groups. The study provides further indication for development of age-adapted preventive measures.
authors: Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Ziemssenstrasse 1, Munich, Germany. barbara.heiden@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Heiden
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Weigl
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Angerer
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Müller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires