THE REBA TECHNIQUE ERGONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS RISK LEVEL AMONG MIDWIVES OF SHIRAZ STATE HOSPITALS

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the most common causes of
occupational injuries that appear in back, neck and upper and lower limb mainly. This study was
conducted with the objective of ergonomics assessment of the risk of MSDs in midwives working at
the state hospitals of Shiraz, Iran.
Material & Methods: In this study, 120 midwives working at the state hospitals of Shiraz were
participated. Administrative and operational staffs were studied separately due to their different nature
of work. The data were gathered by using demographic questionnaire, Nordic musculoskeletal
disorders questionnaire (NMQ), and REBA ergonomics assessment method.
Results: Means of age and job tenure of study subjects were found to be 33.41±8.89 and 9.31±8.04
years, respectively. The study showed that the lower back (55.8%), knee (54.2%) and upper back
(49.2%) had the highest prevalence of symptoms of disorders among midwives. The results showed a
significant association between the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and weight, BMI, job
tenure and working hours per day (p<0.05). The results of assessment of physical exposure to
musculoskeletal risks by REBA technique showed that in 15% of the studied midwives, the level of
exposure to musculoskeletal risks was in Action Level (AC) 1, and 85% in AC 2.
Conclusions: Musculoskeletal disorders are highly associated with weight, BMI, job tenure, and
working hours per day.