Indian Journal of Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy-An International Journal

Abstract

Materials and Methods: The study design was a cross sectional descriptive survey design. All subjects were evaluated using a 32-item questionnaire including items about demographic and impact of musculoskeletal problems. The intensity of the pain was assessed by visual analogue scale.

Results: A 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was observed to be 92.0%. The result showed that the most commonly affected body part was the low back (78.6%). The mean number of years of sewing experience of the participants was 10.0 ± 2.5 years with majority, (51, 25.8%) having worked for 1-5 years and 9 (4.7%) participants having just worked for less than a year. The four major job risk factors identified in this study were prolonged sitting (99.4%), sitting on a high chair (76.5%), sitting without back rest (71.5%) and sitting on a low chair (24.0%). The age, frequency of sewing and years of sewing experience on sitting to sew, standing to cut and ironing were significantly associated with prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders.

Conclusion: There was high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among sewing machine operators. Age, frequency of sewing and years of sewing experience could predispose to the occupational risk of musculoskeletal disorders.

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