Continental Assessment of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevalence Among Surgeons: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are very prevalent among surgeons worldwide. The aim was to investigate the overall and body area WMSD prevalence (proportion of surgeons suffering from WMSD during their practice) by continent throughout a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Three open databases were scanned without a date limit until 31 December 2024 to select relevant studies. The results were reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Results: Among the 20,486 items, 68 articles with a total of 17,188 surgeons were included, distributed as follows: 36 studies in America, 15 in Asia, 16 in Europe, and 1 in Oceania. Overall prevalence was 77.6% in Asia (95% CI: 67.3-87.9%), 73.1% in Europe (95% CI: 60.3-86.0%), and 62.8% in America (95% CI: 57.0-68.6%). The most exposed areas were the neck, upper and lower back, and shoulder, with prevalence ranging from 30 to 50%. The ranking differed according to continent. In America, neck/shoulder WMSD and overall prevalence were negatively correlated to years of experience (r² = 0.182 and r² = 0.240, p < 0.05) and to the number of cases treated per week prevalence (r² = 0.794, p < 0.05), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between the elbow WMSD prevalence and age (r² = 0.365, p < 0.05). In Europe, a negative correlation was highlighted between the overall WMSD prevalence and age (r² = 0.599, p < 0.05). Another positive correlation was identified between shoulder WMSD prevalence and years of experience (r² = 0.735, p < 0.05). Conclusions: To improve surgeons' quality of work life, further research is needed to develop ergonomic programs, organizational work strategies, and assistive devices.