Musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomic load levels among staff in pharmacy intravenous admixture services

Objective To investigate work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) status, their risk factors, and the ergonomic load levels of staff in pharmacy intravenous admixture services (PIVAS). Methods Totally 126 staff in PIVAS from 3 general hospitals were investigated and their WMSDs and the risk factors were surveyed. Results The prevalence of WMSDs among these staff in PIVAS was 40.5% in the past year. The top four body parts associated with WMSDs were neck, hand/wrist,shoulder and upper back. The occurrence rates of WMSDs in these four body parts were 36.51%,28.57%,23.81%,and 17.46%,respectively. The rates of WMSDs increased with increasing ergonomic load levels(P<0.05). Compared with the low ergonomic load,both high and very high ergonomic load levels led to a higher rate of neck WMSDs (OR=4.943,4.820,P<0.05). Compared with age under 30 years old,the staff with age over 40 years old had a higher rate of neck WMSDs (OR=3.032,P<0.05). Compared with employment time less than 1 year in PIVAS,the staff with employment more than 3 years in PIVAS had a higher rate of neck WMSDs (OR=2.481,P<0.05). Conclusion The staff in PIVAS had a high occurrence of WMSDs, which was significantly related to operation in PIVAS and ergonomic load levels. Efforts are needed to improve ergonomics load in order to reduce the occurrence of WMSDs.