Comparing Measures of Physical Work Demands in Hospital Staff
Author Information
Author(s): Nabe-Nielsen Kirsten, Fallentin Nils, Christensen Karl B, Jensen Jette N, Diderichsen Finn
Primary Institution: The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hypothesis
The association between low back pain (LBP) and a generic questionnaire with several items including subjective appraisals would be stronger than the association between LBP and a specific question on the number of patient handling tasks.
Conclusion
The daily number of patient handling tasks is a more effective measure of exposure related to low back pain than more complex measures of physical load.
Supporting Evidence
- The one-year prevalence of LBP was 39% in nurses and other hospital personnel.
- The daily number of patient handling tasks explained 33.1% of the total variance in the physical load index.
- Job category and ward explained 56.3% of the variance in the number of patient handling tasks.
Takeaway
This study found that how often hospital staff handle patients is linked to back pain, and asking about patient handling tasks is a better way to measure this risk.
Methodology
A questionnaire was distributed to 535 hospital employees, with 373 respondents included in the analysis based on non-missing values for both measures of physical demands.
Potential Biases
Differential misclassification could affect the association between exposure and outcome.
Limitations
The study design is cross-sectional, which limits the ability to determine causal relationships, and there is a risk of selection bias.
Participant Demographics
{"gender_distribution":{"women":"79.6%","men":"20.4%"},"age_mean":40.3,"ward_distribution":{"orthopedic":"32.4%","psychiatric":"67.6%"},"job_titles":{"registered_nurses":128,"other_nursing_staff":114,"physicians_psychologists":75,"physio_ergotherapists":33,"other":23}}
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.000
Confidence Interval
95% CI 2.03–14.29
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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