Investigation Of The Prevalence, Risk Factors And Impact Of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Nurses At Katutura Intermediate Hospital, Khomas Region, Namibia

ABSTRACT

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are disorders affecting the musculoskeletal system of the human body and are common in nurses. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, risk factors and impact of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses at Katutura Intermediate Hospital (KIH) in Namibia. A cross-sectional descriptive-analytic quantitative study was performed among 197 randomly selected nurses, using self administered Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire a as data collection tool. The Epi Info™ software version 7, IBM SPSS Statistics 25, and Microsoft Excel 2010 were used for descriptive statistical analysis. Results indicate that the prevalence rate of MSDs over a 12 month period, in any body part was 78.2%, with low back pain (64.0%), indicated as the main body part affected. Both work and non-work related risk factors are associated with the development of MSDs (p-value