Prevalence and associated factors of musculoskeletal disorders among public primary care physicians in a regional healthcare cluster in Singapore: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) commonly affect workers across many industries. This includes healthcare workers, where the prevalence of MSDs ranges from 20% to 91.2% globally. As there is a lack of studies looking at the burden of MSDs among primary care physicians (PCPs), our study aimed to understand the prevalence of MSDs and explore their associated risk factors among PCPs working in the public sector in Singapore.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, where PCPs in a primary healthcare cluster were invited to complete a self-administered web-based questionnaire, which consisted of demographic information and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic information and prevalence of MSDs. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the factors associated with the presence of MSDs.

Results: A total of 193 PCPs completed the study, of whom 174 (90.2%) reported the presence of MSDs in at least one body region in the last 12 months. The most common sites of trouble were the neck (72.5%), lower back (61.1%) and shoulder (50.3%). We also found that females had a higher risk of MSDs (odds ratio 5.66; 95% confidence interval 1.29-24.90) than males.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of MSDs among our local PCPs. Female gender was associated with a higher risk of MSDs. As such, further research can be conducted to explore the risk factors for MSDs and their impact on productivity and quality of care. This would help in the development of preventive measures with the goal of reducing MSDs among PCPs.