title: Worker assessments of organizational practices and psychosocial work environment are associated with musculoskeletal injuries in hospital patient care workers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hospital patient care (PC) workers have high rates of workplace injuries, particularly musculoskeletal injuries. Despite a wide spectrum of documented health hazards, little is known about the association between psychosocial factors at work and OSHA-recordable musculoskeletal injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  PC-workers (n = 1,572, 79%) completed surveys assessing a number of organizational, psychosocial and psychological variables. Associations between the survey responses and injury records were tested using bivariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 5% of the PC-workers had at least one OSHA-recordable musculoskeletal injury over the year, and the injuries were significantly associated with: organizational factors (lower people-oriented culture), psychosocial factors (lower supervisor support), and structural factors (job title: being a patient care assistant).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show support for a multifactorial understanding of musculoskeletal injuries in hospital PC-workers. An increased focus on the various dimensions associated with injury reports, particularly the organizational and psychosocial factors, could contribute to more efficient interventions and programs.
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Uni Health, Uni Research AS, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Silje Endresen
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Reme
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Leslie I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Boden
authors.forename: Torill H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tveito
authors.forename: Elizabeth Tucker
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: O'Day
authors.forename: Jack T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dennerlein
authors.forename: Glorian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sorensen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000209:etiology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D011590:Psychology, Industrial; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: OSHA recordable injuries; hospital patient care workers; multifactorial understanding; musculoskeletal injuries; organizational factors; psychosocial work environment