Effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention to manage musculoskeletal disorders in workers of a medium-sized company

Abstract

Purpose. This study investigated the effectiveness of a workplace-based multifaceted intervention to manage musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and their consequences in the workers of a medium-sized company. Materials and methods. A program consisting of participatory ergonomics (PE), workplace exercises (WE) and acupuncture as the main resources of physical therapy (PT) performed at the workstations was conducted for 22 months with 126 workers. The outcomes were complaints of MSDs and absenteeism measured by the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. We also measured workers’ perceptions about the intervention using a Likert-based questionnaire. Results. The rate of MSDs was significantly reduced in at least one body region (p = 0.001). Absenteeism was also significantly reduced (p = 0.020). For workers with pain at baseline, at least 40% improved totally, while for others the duration, frequency and intensity of pain was reduced for all body regions, except for the lower back and fingers. For workers without pain at baseline, a 70% target for prevention of MSDs was achieved. Most workers (56–99%) agreed that the intervention improved the consequences of MSDs. Conclusions. A multifaceted intervention consisting of PE, WE and acupuncture as the main resources of PT performed at the workstations may be relevant to managing MSDs in working populations.

Keywords:

• ergonomics
• musculoskeletal diseases
• occupational health
• acupuncture
• physical exercises

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the company that made the study possible and the workers who contributed to it. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.