Objective: To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in working female nurses in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Methodology: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in government tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar using self reported Questionnaire and included 200 professional nurses, who were working in tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar and were selected conveniently for the study.
Results: The mean age, height, weight and BMI of the subjects were 27.09 years, 5.17ft, 57.77 Kg and 23.09 Kg/m,2 respectively. The respondents reported a 12-month prevalence rate of work related musculoskeletal disorders at different body regions to be 86%. During the previous 12 months, the spine was the most affected part in 2 out of 3 individuals evaluated, followed by the upper limbs and the lower limbs. The back, neck and shoulder were the areas with the highest prevalence of complaints followed by the knee and the wrist/hand.
Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic low back pain was significantly higher among the nurses. Prevalence of neck pain and most of the other work related musculoskeletal disorders were also high among nurses.
Key words: Lower back, lower extremity, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain.
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