Introduction: Among physiotherapists, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the most common health problem. This study aimed to provide evidence for planning evidence-based health promotion programmes for ensuring and maintaining adequate physical fitness (PF) to decrease WMSDs among physiotherapists which would have started already during the study.
Methods: A cross-sectional study involved the participation of a total of 100 physiotherapy students and 62 physiotherapists. Observed variables were prevalence of WMSDs in the last 12 months, lasting >3 days during physiotherapeutic activities and five PF components: body composition, cardiorespiratory and muscle endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility. A chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used as the main analytical methods.
Results: Prevalence of WMSDs in physiotherapists was 63.9% (the most common locations: lower back, shoulders, neck), while in physiotherapy students it was 46.5% (the most common locations: lower back, neck, upper back) (p=0.031). Among the PF components, the results showed statistically significantly worse flexibility among students compared to physiotherapists (about two thirds of students had poor or very poor results of flexibility testing) (p=0.002) in comparison to physiotherapists. A statistically significant positive association between WMSDs and PF was observed only between knee pain and poor cardiorespiratory endurance (OR=4.03 with 95% CI 1.12-14.58; p=0.033).
Conclusion: The study showed poor flexibility among students indicating that it is necessary to direct them to perform activities that will increase the extensibility of muscles. The awareness of this problem should be increased. A specific role should be played by staff involved in clinical practice.
Uvod: Pri fizioterapevtih so z delom povezane motnje mišično-skeletnega sistema (ZDPMSM) najpogostejša zdravstvena težava. Namen te študije je bil zagotoviti dokaze za razvoj z dokazi podprtih programov promocije zdravja za zagotavljanje in vzdrževanje ustrezne telesne pripravljenosti (TP) fizioterapevtov za zmanjšanje ZDPMSM z začetkom že v času študija.
Metode: V presečni študiji je sodelovalo 100 študentov fizioterapije in 62 fizioterapevtov. Opazovane spremenljivke so bile prevalenca ZDPMSM v zadnjih 12 mesecih, ki so trajale >3 dni med fizioterapevtskimi aktivnostmi in pet komponent TP: telesna sestava, srčno-dihalna vzdržljivost, mišična vzdržljivost, mišična moč in prožnost. Glavni analitični metodi sta bili test hi-kvadrat in binarna logistična regresija.
Rezultati: Prevalenca ZDPMSM je bila v skupini fizioterapevtov 63,9-odstotna (najpogostejše lokacije: spodnji del hrbta, ramena, vrat), v skupini študentov fizioterapije pa 46,5-odstotna (najpogostejše lokacije: spodnji del hrbta, vrat, zgornji del hrbta) (p = 0,031). Med komponentami TP so rezultati pokazali statistično značilno slabšo fleksibilnost študentov v primerjavi s fizioterapevti (približno dve tretjini študentov je imelo slabe ali zelo slabe rezultate testiranja fleksibilnosti) v primerjavi s fizioterapevti (p = 0,002). Statistično značilna pozitivna povezanost med ZDPMSM in TP je bila zaznana le med bolečino v kolenu in slabo srčno-dihalno vzdržljivostjo (RO = 4,03 s 95-odstotnim IZ 1,12–14,58; p = 0,033).
Zaključek: Študija je pokazala slabo fleksibilnost študentov, kar kaže, da jih je treba usmerjati v dejavnosti, ki bodo povečale raztegljivost mišic. Ozaveščenost o tem problemu je treba povečati. To posebno vlogo mora imeti osebje, vključeno v klinično prakso.
Keywords: musculoskeletal disorders; physical fitness; physiotherapists; physiotherapy students.
© 2022 National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia, published by Sciendo.