Frequency of musculoskeletal disorder among physiotherapists in public and private hospitals

Musculoskeletal disorders are most common factors of extreme long-term and physical pain that many people around the world are suffering from. In the work place, the physiotherapists are prone to musculoskeletal disorders during their working hours. Research suggests that one in six physiotherapists leave their occupation because of these injuries. This study is conducted to determine the consequences of musculoskeletal disorder among physiotherapists. Method: This was a cross-sectional study design, close ended questionnaire was used to collect the primary data which allowed the assessment of low back, neck, shoulder and general problems. The data was collected from the physiotherapists working in the private and public hospitals in Karachi. A sample size of 267 was taken. Data was entered using SPSS and analyzed using frequency and chi square methods. Results: Fifty physiotherapists filled the questionnaire; all of them have reported Musculo-Skeletal Disorder (MSD). Lower back pain (90%) was the most frequently reported MSD followed by pain in upper back (78%), shoulders (42%) and Neck (30%). The main cause of injury was bending/twisting (34%). Because of MSD physiotherapists have reported various options that they want to adopt including; reduce service hours (84 %), change job (32 %) and avoid lifting patients (24%). Conclusion: Physiotherapists have high burden of MSD. Most of them have been thinking of reducing their service hours, scope of services or changing their profession. Because of this the actual number of physiotherapists providing physiotherapy services will be very few. This will have serious implications in a country like Pakistan which already has severe shortage of physiotherapists