title: Musculoskeletal complaints among physiotherapy and occupational therapy rehabilitation professionals in Bangladesh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals are at high risk of developing occupational musculoskeletal injuries globally. Musculoskeletal pain is the most common problem.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the extent of discomfort that physiotherapy and occupational therapy health professionals report while working at a physical rehabilitation centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals which include both graduate and diploma physiotherapists and occupational therapists as well as physiotherapy and occupational therapy assistants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self administered questionnaire (survey) was conducted on a convenient sample of 101 physiotherapy and occupational therapy personnel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the 101 participants was 27.8 (± 4.5) years and most of the participants (62%) had less than 5 years of work experience. Ninety-five percent of the participants complained of work related pain. Most of the participants reported pain in the lower back (n=84) followed by upper back (n=71) and neck (n=66). Significant associations were found for pain in ankles/feet with age (p=0.05) and pain in neck with gender (p=0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals suffer from pain in relation to the work they do as therapists which may be due to non-practice of appropriate body mechanics. Mechanism to assess level of practice during dealing with patients may be introduced to enable corrective measures. Incentives should be considered for appropriate practice.
authors: Department of Physiotherapy, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors: Md Shofiqul
authors: MS
authors: Islam
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors: Md Monjurul
authors: MM
authors: Habib
authors: Department of Epidemiology {\&} Biostatistics, Bangladesh Institute of Health Sciences, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors: Md Abdul
authors: MA
authors: Hafez
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors: Nazmun
authors: N
authors: Nahar
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA.
authors: Debra
authors: D
authors: Lindstrom-Hazel
authors: Department of Physiotherapy, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors: Mohammad Khalilur
authors: MK
authors: Rahman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty; D015995:Prevalence; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Musculoskeletal discomfort survey; occupational injury; therapist; visual analogue scale