Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Preventing the Occurrence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Doctors in University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders affecting medical personnel should never be treated lightly. It has thus become necessary to strictly infuse ergonomics in medical practice in order to tackle the occurrence of musculoskeletal system disorders. This would ensure better productivity among the medical personnel. This research was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among doctors working at the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was employed in carrying out this study among doctors working at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Multistage sampling was utilized in selecting a sample population of 223 doctors for this study. Data collection was done using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. Ethical approval to conduct this study was gotten from the University of Port-Harcourt research ethics committee. Consent, confidentiality, privacy and beneficence were ensured in this study. For test of associations, statistical significance was set at 0.05.Results: Majority of the respondents had good knowledge and attitude towards musculoskeletal disorders’ prevention at work. The practice of ergonomic principles was however not satisfactory. Occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among study respondents was significantly associated with the knowledge and practice of ergonomic principles required to prevent the occurrence of these disorders.Conclusion: Despite the significant proportion of doctors in this study having good knowledge and attitude towards prevention of musculoskeletal system disorders at work, only few of these doctors satisfactorily practiced the necessary preventive measures necessary to prevent these disorders. This inadvertently resulted in the high prevalence of these disorders found in this study. It is recommended that a re-orientation of doctors to be more involved in the actual application of ergonomics while working no matter the compulsion or desire to get the work done should be done.