Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders among Truck and taxi drivers: A retrospective study

Author(s):Omid Aminian, Zahra Jamshidi, Shahdokht Seifmanesh, Ramin Mehrdad,Khosro Sadeghniiat-Haghighi and Eghbal Sekhavati

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are the most common cause of work-related disability with significant financial and medical costs. Drivers have the highest prevalence of MSDs in comparison with other jobs. According to high prevalence of MSDs among drivers especially truck and taxi drivers along with limited available information in the region; we aimed to evaluate MSDs among truck and taxi drivers and compare the results of these two groups. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of truck and taxi drivers referred to a private occupational health clinic in Kermanshah (West of Iran). A total of 734 participants including366 Truck drivers and 368 taxi drivers, were enrolled in the study consecutively. MSDs were evaluated by means of Nordic questionnaire, a self-administered questionnaire for evaluation of MSDs. Chi square test was used for comparison between two qualitative variables and finally multivariate regression was performed for further data analysis. Among 734 drivers participated in the study, 366 ones were truck driver. Truck drivers were significantly older than taxi drivers (p<0.05). Low back pain was the most observed MSD in both study groups. In the univariate analysis, the knee and neck pain were the only more prevalent symptoms in truck drivers. After adjusting for other variables, vehicle type was significantly associated with MSDs and spinal column pain in addition to knee and neck pain. Truck drivers are more susceptible to develop musculoskeletal symptoms in spine, knee and neck pain than taxi drivers. Improving vehicle structure and lowering vibration, educating truck drivers about correct methods of load handling and obesity prevention may decrease musculoskeletal disorders among truck drivers.

• PDF