Can the HEMPA method predict musculoskeletal disorders in nurses and caregivers?

Abstract

Introduction Caregivers and nurses perform occupational activities that can lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) associated with patient handling. It is also important to predict and assess the WMSDs risk using reliable and trustworthy tools. This study conducted to investigating the ability of the HEMPA technique to predict WMSDs. Methods This descriptive and analytical study was conducted on 90 caregivers and nurses working in different wards of a medical teaching hospital in 2023. Data collection was conducted based on a three-part questionnaire that included demographic information, the body map questionnaire, and the HEMPA tool. The ability of the HEMPA tool to predict the prevalence of the WMSDs and to examine the multivariate relationship between the outcome and different variables was determined using logistic regression. The predictive power of the HEMPA technique for different body parts was indicated by the area under the ROC curve values. The study data were analyzed using Stata version 14 software, with a significance level of less than 5% for all tests (P < 0.05). Result In this study, 90 caregivers and nurses participated with an age range of 24–60 years and BMI of 27.15 ± 4.02. Most of the participants (52.2%) were male, married (83.3%), and had a high school diploma (81.1%). The risk assessment of 16 different departments of the hospital were at the medium level. The highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the back (93.3%), neck (87.7%) and the highest intensity of pain in the lower back (34.4%) and back (24.4%) were reported. The highest chance of suffering from musculoskeletal disorders was identified in the Left-Thigh (AOR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.29–0.76) and Right-Thigh (AOR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.29–0.76) areas. Based on the ROC Curve values, the highest AUC corresponds to Left-Thigh (AUC = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69–0.89) and Right-Knee (AUC = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.62–0.90) respectively. The lowest AUC was determined for Left-Ankle (AUC = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.57–0.79) and Right-Hand (AUC = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.55–0.78), respectively. Conclusion The results indicated that the HEMPA technique can predict and detect different levels of risk of WMSDs in different areas of the body well and with high accuracy. Therefore, emphasis on the ergonomics of patient handling and application of comprehensive and reliable techniques and methods such as HEMPA that follow the workplace ergonomics workplace can be effective in preventing and managing musculoskeletal disorders in these people.