title: Comparisons of musculoskeletal disorders among ten different medical professions in Taiwan: a nationwide, population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medical personnel are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders but little is known whether the risk of musculoskeletal disorders were different among various medical professions. Therefore, this study compared the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among personnel of 10 different medical professions in Taiwan using a nationwide health claims database.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2000-2010 Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database were used to identify personnel of 10 different medical professions. Diagnoses based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) were used to identify eight different musculoskeletal disorders that occurred after the license issuance date. Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the risk of eight musculoskeletal disorders among the 10 different medical professions using dentists as the reference category.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 7,820 medical personnel were included in the analysis. Using dentists as the reference category, physical therapists showed a significantly higher risk of all eight musculoskeletal disorders (ranging from 1.59 [p = 0.032] in sprains and strains of other and unspecified parts of back to 2.93 [p < 0.001] in spondylosis and allied disorders).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with dentists, a profession that already known to suffer from high rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, physical therapists, registered nurses, and doctors of Chinese medicine showed an even higher risk of musculoskeletal disorders.
authors: Department of Rehabilitation, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors: Shu Yi
authors: SY
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Rehabilitation, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors: Liang Chun
authors: LC
authors: Liu
authors: Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors: Ming Chi
authors: MC
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Medical Research, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Malcolm
authors: M
authors: Koo
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009726:Nurses; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010595:Pharmacists; D059825:Physical Therapists; D010820:Physicians; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology