Distúrbios musculoesqueléticos em trabalhadores da saúde de Belo Horizonte, 2009

Abstract

Health workers occupy key position in society, for assisting individuals and their communities. However, they are a vulnerable group, since the manifestations of discontent and illness live with the shortcomings of measures to protect health. Recent investigations have shown a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among occupational groups in the health field. Pain is the main symptom, usually becomes severe, occurring disability and work absenteeism, loss of functionality and quality of life. The study objectives were: 1) Describe the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in a sample of workers in the municipal health system in Belo Horizonte, 2) Examine the differences in the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders according to the occupation in the health sector, and 3) Evaluate extralaborais aspects, with emphasis on domestic workload, which may influence the prevalence ofmusculoskeletal disorders among health care workers. We conducted a cross-sectional study of proportional sample of 1,808 subjects total of 13,602 workers. The prevalence was assessed from self-report of pain in the lower limbs, upper limbs and back. The magnitude of the associations was estimated by Poisson regression, univariate and multivariate models. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, regardless of the affected area, was 49.9%, and 36.5% for the back, 34.3% in lower limbs, and 20.4% in upper limbs. Found a positiveassociation with gender differences between the outcomes and reports compatible with common mental disorders, region district of participation of workers and occupations most vulnerable, poor environmental conditions, high physical demand and domestic workload.The results confirm the multidimensional nature of musculoskeletal disorders and suggest clues for development of programs for health promotion in health facilities.