Prevalence of skeletal muscle affections in Emergency health personnel at Luis Gabriel Dávila Hospital

Abstract

Three centuries ago (in 1717), the father of occupational medicine, Bernardino Ramazzini, recognized the association between work and certain skeletal muscle disorders, which are induced or aggravated by circumstances and performance of work. The objective of this work was to identify the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders in Emergency health personnel at Luis Gabriel Dávila Hospital and the relationship with work. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, the data was collected through the Nordic Questionnaire, designed to detect skeletal muscle disorders and applied to health personnel of the Emergency Service at Luis Gabriel Dávila Hospital with prior Informed Consent. The result showed that 74.5% reported at least some skeletal muscle symptom, the female staff was the most affected. The most common attributable cause was forced positions during work. The Nursing staff is most affected and their symptoms were classified with greater intensity compared to all, the most prevalent disorder was lumbago, which although it does not have statistical significance association but it has clinically and occupationally relevance. Excessive workload, poor ergonomic conditions, and occupational class generate forced postures in health personnel and this chronic exposure triggers skeletal muscle disorders.