Association of age and physical job demands with musculoskeletal disorders in nurses

A cross-sectional study design was applied on 273 nurses to investigate associations of physical job demands, age, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in nursing. Concurrently, participants reported on various physical job demands with a standardized questionnaire for Hospital Work. As a special contribution, this investigation illustrates findings on MSDs provided by a standardized physical examination to questionnaire data. MSD located in the lower back (8.7%) had the highest frequency, followed by the neck (7.3%), the shoulders (6.9%), and the knees (2.2%). There were significant differences in the frequencies of MSD between the young/middle age-group and the old age-group in most locations, while the only significant difference between the young and the middle age-group was found for shoulder-MSD. Furthermore high levels of physical job demands increased the risk of MSD significantly (OR = 5.7, 1.55–20.96) in all age-groups. The study provides further indication for development of age-adapted preventive measures.

► Findings on MSD in nursing are illustrated by results of a physical examination.
► Nurses >45 years show higher frequencies of MSDs at all locations compared to those <35.
► Nurses >35 and <44 years show no significant differences in frequency of shoulder-MSDs.
► High level physical job demands are only related to MSD in nurses between 35 and 44.