| Abstract |
Background: After the successful control of well-known and frequently fatal occupational health hazards, interest has now shifted to the control of work related musculoskeletal disorders that are a major cause of disability, lost workdays and increasing demand for health care. The absence of identifiable underlying pathology in many of them, together with the nonspecificity of symptoms favors the hypothesis that psychological factors contribute importantly to such conditions. There is evidence for an effect of psychosocial factors at work on the occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints, but the evidence for the role of specific psychosocial factors has not been established. Objectives: The main aim of this study was to complete the pilot phase of the international study on musculoskeletal problems and their correlation with cultural and psychosocial factors at work, in Crete. The specific objectives were: 1. To translate the questionnaire of the international study from English in order to apply the instrument to the Greek population, 2. To evaluate two different ways of administering the questionnaire, namely through face-to-face interviews and self administered, and 3. To provide first estimates of prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the populations of interest. Methods: The study population consisted of 100 professionals, namely nursing personnel (n=50) and postal clerks (n=50) sorting mail by hand. Half of the subjects from each group completed a self-administered questionnaire, and the other half did a structured personal interview. Results: The final sample consisted of 89 persons (mean age 40.4 years). The specific response rates for the face-to-face interview and the self-administered questionnaire were 96% and 82% respectively. There was a significant association between the way of administering the questionnaire and the response rate (Pearson Chi-Square= 5.005, df=1, p=0.025). The item response rate for the face-to-face interview was 100% for all questions. For the self-completed questionnaires the mean item response rate was 91.5% (SD= 0.047). Lumbago and neck pain during the past 12 months was reported by 72.9% and 52.4% of the respondents respectively. Shoulder pain was reported by 48.9%, 25.9% reported elbow pain and 29.1% wrist and/or hand pain. Knee pain was reported by the 32.1% of the respondents. The distribution of musculoskeletal pain within the past 4 weeks was as follows: 37.2% of respondents reported low back pain, 31.4% neck pain, 31.5% shoulder pain, 16.5% elbow pain, 19% wrist pain and 21.2% knee pain. Conclusions: The face-to-face administration of the questionnaire gives higher response rates and more complete data than the self-administered questionnaire, and is therefore the most appropriate method to administer the questionnaire of the international study on cultural and psychosocial influences on disability to the sample-population of Crete.
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Πιλοτική μελέτη στην Κρήτη διεθνούς έρευνας για τα μυοσκελετικά προβλήματα
