Factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in professionals working in sitting position

Lopes, Anália Rosário; Trelha, Celita Salmaso; Robazzi, Maria Lúcia do Carmo Cruz; Reis, Roberta Alvarenga; Pereira, Maria José Bistafa; Santos, Claudia Benedita dos

doi:10.11606/s1518-8787.2021055002617

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Original Article • Rev. Saúde Pública 55 • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.11606/s1518-8787.2021055002617 copy

Factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in professionals working in sitting position

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and analyze their associated factors in professionals from administrative sectors working predominantly in sitting position.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study with data obtained from 451 workers from a federal public institution in Southern Brazil. The dependent variable was the number of musculoskeletal symptoms in the prior 12 months, measured using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. In the analyses, 19 independent variables were investigated, divided into four categories: sociodemographic, behavioral, occupational and health characteristics. Univariate analysis and multiple Poisson regression with robust variance were performed. The independent variables were inserted into blocks with stepwise backward criterion, considering the value for Wald statistics equal to 0.20. The effect measures were expressed in a relative increase (RI) in the mean value, and the data were analyzed for a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

The estimated prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the prior 12 months was 90% (confidence interval – 95%CI 87–93). In the final model of regression analysis, the variables female gender (RI = 14.75%), low (RI = 100.02%) and moderate (RI = 64.06%) work ability index, use of medications (RI = 48.06%) and waist circumference at risk (RI = 15.59%) had a significant association with the increase in the mean number of symptoms; schooling with technical education acted as a protective factor, reducing the mean by 36.46%.

CONCLUSIONS

The high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms found and the associated factors indicate the need to propose specific actions and care for this population, such as immediate treatment of symptoms and changes in the organization and work environment, to achieve balance and harmony in the demands of prolonged sitting work and avoid its impact effect of this condition on public health.

Occupational Health; Measures of Association, Exposure, Risk or Outcome; Cumulative Trauma Disorders; Posture; Sedentary Lifestyle

		Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Gender	Female	246	54.5
Gender	Male	205	45.5
Education level	High school	62	13.7
	Technical Education	23	5.1
	Higher education	260	57.6
	Graduate studies	106	23.6
Smoking	Daily smoker	17	3.8
	Occasional smoker	9	2.0
	Former smoker	45	10.0
	Non-smoker	380	84.3
Practice of physical activity	Yes	243	53.9
Practice of physical activity	No	208	46.1
Computer use outside of work	Yes	179	39.7
Computer use outside of work	No	272	60.3
Overtime	Yes	34	7.5
Overtime	No	417	92.5
Frequency of computer use at work	Less than 50% of the time	13	2.9
	Between 50% and 70% of the time	35	7.8
	Less than 50% of the time	403	89.4
WAI	Low	6	1.3
	Moderate	79	17.5
	Good	204	45.2
	Optimal	162	35.9
Use of medication in the last 12 months	Yes	244	54.1
Use of medication in the last 12 months	No	207	45.9
Waist circumference	Lower risk	202	44.8
	Increased risk	147	32.6
	Substantially increased risk	102	22.6
Flexibility (Wells Bank)	Excellent	41	9.1
	Above average	63	14.0
	Average	69	15.3
	Below average	81	18.0
	Very poor	197	43.7
Muscle strength of the lower abdominals	Regular	170	37.7
	Good	235	52.1
	Normal	46	10.2
Resistance of the abdominals	Excellent	94	20.8
	Above average	81	18.0
	Average	74	16.4
	Below average	66	14.6
	Weak	136	30.2
Shortening of hip flexors	Yes	80	17.7
Shortening of hip flexors	No	371	82.3

	Age (years)	Time sitting not at work (hours/day)	Time sitting at work (hours/day)	Sitting time at work (in years)	Couto’s checklist final average (in %)
Descriptive data: mean value and standard deviation (SD)	44.4 (DP = 10.6)	3.12 (DP = 1.55)	6.51 (DP = 0.96)	20.29 (DP = 10.88)	88.9% (DP = 4.37)
Amount of MS in the last 12 months
Correlation coefficient^a	0.083	0.082	0.033	0.079	0.068
Bilateral significance	0.077	0.082	0.489	0.093	0.152

		Average	Standard deviation	95%CI	Median	Minimum	Maximum	p
Overtime	Yes	3.15	1.893	2.49–3.81	3.00	0	7	0.587
Overtime	No	3.36	2.214	3.15–3.57	3.00	0	9
Student’s t-test
Frequency of computer use at work	Less than 50% of the time	-	-	-	2.00	1	7	0.614
	Between 50% and 70% of the time	-	-	-	3.00	0	8
	Less than 50% of the time	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
Kruskal-Wallis test
WAI	Low	-	-	-	5.50	2	9	< 0.001
	Moderate	-	-	-	5.00	0	9
	Good	-	-	-	3.50	0	9
	Optimal	-	-	-	2.00	0	8
Kruskal-Wallis test
Use of medication in the last 12 months	Yes	4.10	2.031	3.85–4.36	4.00	0	9	< 0.001
Use of medication in the last 12 months	No	2.45	2.033	2.17–2.73	2.00	0	9
Student’s t-test
Waist circumference	Lower risk	3.08	2.098	2.79–3.37	3.00	0	9	< 0.001
	Increased risk	3.12	2.225	2.75–3.48	3.00	0	9
	SIR	4.20	2.125	3.78–4.61	4.00	0	9
Anova test
Flexibility (Wells Bank)	Excellent	-	-	-	3.00	0	7	0,602
	Above average	-	-	-	3.00	0	8
	Average	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
	Below average	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
	Very poor	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
Kruskal-Wallis test
Muscle strength of the lower abdominals	Regular	3.61	2.182	3.28–3.94	3.50	0	9	0.134
	Good	3.17	2.248	2.88–3.45	3.00	0	9
	Normal	3.28	1.846	2.73–3.83	3.00	0	8
Anova test
Resistance of the abdominals	Excellent	2.85	2.190	2.40–3.30	2.50	0	9	0.072
	Above average	3.40	2.017	2.95–3.84	3.00	0	9
	Average	3.46	2.121	2.97–3.95	3.00	0	8
	Below average	3.17	2.351	2.59–3.74	3.00	0	9
	Weak	3.68	2.211	3.30–4.05	3.50	0	9
Anova test
Shortening of hip flexors	Yes	3.63	2.420	3.09–4.16	3.00	0	9	0.245
Shortening of hip flexors	No	3.28	2.137	3.06–3.50	3.00	0	9
Student’s t-test

Parameters	Estimate	Standard error	z-value	p-value	RI	95%CI
(Intercept)	0.6763	0.1090	6.2061	0.0000	1.9667
Female	0.1376	0.0626	2.1967	0.0280	1.1475	1.0149	1.2974
Education: technical education	-0.4535	0.1788	-2.5361	0.0112	0.6354	0.4475	0.9021
Education: technical education	-0.1134	0.0851	-1.3323	0.1828	0.8928	0.7556	1.0549
Education: graduate	-0.0573	0.0999	-0.5739	0.5660	0.9443	0.7764	1.1485
Low WAI	0.6933	0.2050	3.3817	0.0007	2.0002	1.3384	2.9894
Moderate WAI	0.4950	0.0868	5.7035	0.0000	1.6406	1.3839	1.9448
Use of medicines in the past 12 months	0.3924	0.0643	6.1008	0.0000	1.4806	1.3052	1.6795
Increased risk	-0.0421	0.0702	-0.5996	0.5488	0.9588	0.8355	1.1002
WC in substantially increased risk	0.1449	0.0738	1.9630	0.0496	1.1559	1.0002	1.3358

		Average	Standard deviation	95%CI	Median	Minimum	Maximum	p
Gender	Female	3.68	2.168	3.41–3.96	4.00	0	9	< 0.001
Gender	Male	2.94	2.154	2.64–3.23	3.00	0	9
Student’s t-test
Education level	High school	-	-	-	3.00	0	9	0.027
	Technical Education	-	-	-	2.00	0	6
	Higher education	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
	Graduate studies	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
Kruskal-Wallis test
Smoking	Daily smoker	-	-	-	5.00	0	8	0.397
	Occasional smoker	-	-	-	4.00	1	6
	Former smoker	-	-	-	3.00	0	7
	Non-smoker	-	-	-	3.00	0	9
Kruskal-Wallis test
Practice of physical activity	Yes	3.11	2.078	2.84–3.37	3.00	0	9	0.014
Practice of physical activity	No	3.62	2.289	3.31–3.93	4.00	0	9
Student’s t-test
Using the computer outside of work	Yes	3.23	2,173	2,91–3,56	3,00	0	9	0,392
Using the computer outside of work	No	3.42	2,204	3,15–3,68	3,00	0	9
Student’s t-test

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E-mail: revsp@usp.br

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[1] Correspondence: Anália Rosário Lopes Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana Av. Tarquínio Joslin dos Santos, n.1000, Jardim Universitário. 85870-901, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brasil E-mail: analia.lopes@unila.edu.br