Work-related neck pain and its association with postural and ergonomic factors among Pakistani professional drivers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Professional drivers are most likely to experience work-related neck pain due to awkward sitting positions for extended periods of time. Globally, millions of people depend on drivers who dedicate their lives to the craft. However, there is a paucity of data available on professional drivers suffering from neck pain or other musculoskeletal pain in Pakistan. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of neck pain and its association with postural and ergonomic factors among Pakistani professional drivers. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from January to June 2022 among 369 professional drivers located in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The data were collected by using a questionnaire comprising different sections, including personal, postural and ergonomic factors among drivers. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 was used for data entry and analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 40.83±9.27 years. Among the 369 participants, 129 reported neck pain. The period and point prevalence of neck pain were 35% (n = 129) and 31% (n = 115), respectively. Professional drivers reported a significant association between habitual forward posture and head–neck posture (p = 0.000) and between habitual forward posture and trunk posture (p = 0.000) with neck pain. In addition, ergonomics training (p = 0.002), ergonomics awareness (p = 0.002), and mobile use while driving (p = 0.000) were significantly associated with neck pain. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that drivers have greater period prevalence of neck pain than point prevalence. Moreover, this study revealed that age, BMI, lifestyle, health status, medication use, and smoking habits were associated with neck pain in drivers. Drivers who had ergonomic training and awareness were significantly less likely to suffer from lower neck pain. Drivers with a habitual forward posture are more likely to suffer from neck pain than are drivers with a prone posture.