Analysis of work-related ailments affecting physiotherapists

The profession of a physiotherapist is associated with various risks related to manual work, repetitive activities, an uncomfortable prolonged position of joints in some body postures forced by the work, and the standing position, which all impose considerable load on the upper and lower extremities and the spine. The aim of the study was to analyse ailments reported by physiotherapists in relation to their age, gender, seniority, the number of working hours per day, and body position during work.

The study involved 120 physiotherapists working in various types of employment. The research was carried out using an author-design questionnaire based on the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The occurrence of the ailments was analysed in relation to respondents' age, gender, seniority, number of working hours per day, and body position during work. An analysis of the relationships between the variables was carried out. The analysis of qualitative variables was performed using the χ2 test.

The results showed that the majority of physiotherapists complained of fatigue (78.8%), leg pain (61.9%), spine pain (60.2%), headache (59.3%), and shoulder pain (52.5%). It was shown that such symptoms as fatigue, dizziness, leg pain, finger pain, headache, wrist pain, drowsiness, and numbness, were correlated with age.

The pain symptoms reported by the surveyed physiotherapists affected different parts of the body and appeared with different frequency and intensity. The majority of the physiotherapists declared problems with the lower spine, neck, wrists, hands, upper spine, and shoulders. Thigh pain was the most commonly reported symptom, whereas neck pain was reported the least frequently. The lower spine and ankles were indicated as body areas with the most severe and the weakest pain, respectively.