The distribution of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Musculoskeletal injuries are noticeably high among the nursing fraternity, with lower back pain (LBP) being the most prevalent. Therefore, this study aimed to map evidence on the burden of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among nurses in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

This scoping review was guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We conducted a comprehensive literature search with no date limit from the following databases: Science Direct, PubMed, Sabinet (SA ePublications), EBSCOhost platform, World Health Organization (WHO) Library, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, Taylor and Francis, and WorldCat Academic Search with full text for published studies. The search took place from May 2022 to December 2022. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used for reporting the search results, and a thematic content analysis was used to present the emerging themes from the included studies.

A total of 16,714 studies were identified after the database search. Only 29 studies met the inclusion criteria after full-article screening and were included for data extraction. The studies reported a total of 6343 participants from different regions in SSA. The 29 included studies showed evidence on the prevalence of MSD, associated risk factors of MSD and LBP among nurses in SSA with some recommendations on how to reduce the prevalence of MSD among nurses.

The study findings reveal that there is a high prevalence of MSD among nurses, especially LBP. The etiology of MSD among nurses is multifactorial, and multifaceted strategies to address MSD are recommended. Further research is recommended to explore strategies that can be used to curb the high prevalence of MSD among nurses.