Work productivity impairment from musculoskeletal disorder pain in long-term caregivers

To examine the impact of Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) pain on work productivity in Long-Term Caregivers.

An eight item work productivity impairment scale specific to MSD pain was constructed, evaluated and used as part of a telephone survey of LTCaregivers health.

The productivity impairment scale demonstrated good reliability and validity. The fifty-six of 71 caregivers (79%) reporting work-related MSD pain endorsed, on average > three of eight items in the impairment scale. Only two variables predicted productivity impairment: 1) pain frequency and 2) frequency of resident lifts and transfers.

Specifically linking MSD pain from manual resident lifting to impaired work productivity may provide employers with additional visible impact of manual lifting beyond compensation costs alone, and thus promote adoption of safer lifting practices.