Associations between observed time sitting at work and musculoskeletal symptoms: a repeated-measures study of manufacturing workers

Abstract

Time sitting at work is known to affect health overall, but its specific effects on musculoskeletal symptoms are unclear. We evaluated the relationship between observed time sitting at work and self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms among 195 manufacturing workers. Longer time sitting at work was significantly associated with lower prevalence of neck/shoulder (prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.68, 0.72]; p < 0.001) and arm/wrist/hand (PR = 0.46, 95% CI [0.31, 0.69]; p < 0.001) musculoskeletal symptoms. Associations remained largely unchanged after adjusting for job type or occupational postures and load. Time sitting at work was associated with musculoskeletal symptoms, and should be taken into consideration as part of interventions to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and promote health of manufacturing workers.

KEYWORDS:

• musculoskeletal symptoms
• time sitting
• occupational health

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the UConn-SAM research team for their contributions to this project. The authors would also like to thank the study participants.

Data availability statement

The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health [2R01OH008929-06A1].