Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in leather products industry workers: cross-sectional study in a city of the state of Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Musculoskeletal injuries induced by labor process and organization are relevant for health/labor relationship. This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints and associated factors among leather products manufacturers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study where data were obtained by means of self-applied questionnaires to 320 workers distributed among 13 plants of the city of Cristina, MG, between February and March 2011. Nordic questionnaire of musculoskeletal symptoms was applied to measure the prevalence of complaints in different body regions. A descriptive analysis was carried out on the socio-demographic profile of the studied population. Multivariate logistic regression was used to describe the association between dependent variable, musculoskeletal complaint and the set of explanatory variables, with adjusted odds ratio calculation. Logistic regression was used with adjusted odds ratio calculation. RESULTS: The study involved 138 workers. Better adjusted multivariate model after confusion variables control was for knee pain, with prevalence of 40.0% among males and 24.1% among females. Sewing and finishing sectors behaved as "protection", that is, less chance for pain as compared to the cutting sector. Age had negative association, that is, the higher the age the lower the chance of pain. In a different adjusted model for shoulder pain, workers and time working on the job showed higher chance of pain. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of complaints was higher than that found in the literature. Significant variables were identified which may subsidize the prevention of job distress, such as knee pain. Further studies are needed with the inclusion of other variables and other designs to minimize biases.

摘要

## 背景与目的
由劳动过程与组织引发的肌肉骨骼损伤与健康-劳动关系密切相关。本研究旨在调查皮革制品生产工人的肌肉骨骼不适患病率及其相关影响因素。

## 方法
本研究为横断面研究，于2011年2月至3月期间，向巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州克里斯蒂纳市（Cristina, MG）13家工厂的320名工人发放自填式调查问卷以收集数据。采用北欧肌肉骨骼症状问卷（Nordic Questionnaire for Musculoskeletal Symptoms）评估不同身体部位不适的患病率；对研究对象的社会人口学特征开展描述性分析；以肌肉骨骼不适为因变量，采用多因素logistic回归分析其与各解释变量间的关联，并计算校正比值比。

## 结果
本研究最终纳入138名工人。经混杂变量校正后，拟合效果最优的多因素模型为膝关节疼痛相关模型：男性膝关节疼痛患病率为40.0%，女性为24.1%。缝纫与整理工段呈现“保护效应”，即相较于切割工段，工人发生疼痛的概率更低；年龄与疼痛发生概率呈负相关，即年龄越大，疼痛发生风险越低。在针对肩关节疼痛的另一项校正模型中，在职工人与工龄更长的人群疼痛发生风险更高。

## 结论
本次研究测得的肌肉骨骼不适患病率高于已有文献报道水平。本研究明确了可用于职业应激预防的关键影响变量，例如膝关节疼痛相关指标。未来需开展纳入更多变量、采用不同研究设计的研究以尽可能减少偏倚。