Risk factors of work -related musculoskeletal disorders in multiple parts of neck, shoulder and back of workers in a brewery in Guangzhou

  Objective  To investigate the status and risk factors of work -related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) of workers in neck, shoulder and back in a brewery.

  Methods  In September 2021, 501 employees of a brewery in Guangzhou were selected as the subjects to investigate the prevalence of WMSDs using the Chinese version of Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of WMSDs.

  Results  The total prevalence of WMSDs of workers in this brewery was 39.7%, the highest prevalence was 27.1% in neck, 25.0% in shoulder, 24.0% in lower back and 23.2% in upper back. The prevalence of WMSDs in single site was 10.8%, and that in multiple site was 28.9%. The occurrence of WMSD in 2, 3, 4 and 5 or more sites was 3.8%, 4.4%, 16.4%, and 4.6%, respectively. Among them, the prevalence rate of simultaneous onset in neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back was 17.8% (89/501), in upper limb (elbow and wrist) was 3.2% (16/501), and in lower limb (leg, knee and ankle) was 2.2%(11/501). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that compared with workers with total working time < 5 years, the risk of WMSDs in the neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back of workers with total working time of 5 -9 year or 10 -14 years increased to 2.781 and 3.480 times (P < 0.05), respectively; the risk of WMSDs in neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back of workers with operation in an uncomfortable position increased to 2.343 times (P < 0.05); higher educational level (college education or above vs. junior high school education or below) and engaging in same operation every day were protective factors for WMSDs at neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back(OR=0.355, 0.554, P < 0.05, respectively).

  Conclusions  The risk of WMSDs of workers in beer manufacturing industry was higher, mainly in multi-sites such as neck, shoulder and back. The risk of WMSDs at multiple sites of these workers could be reduced by avoiding uncomfortable working posture and giving much concerning on employees with longer working time and/or with low education level.