Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. May 18, 2022; 13(5): 465-471
Published online May 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i5.465
Prevalence and factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among hand surgeons
Saad M Alqahtani, Mohammad M Alzahrani, Ryan Bicknell, David Pichora
Saad M Alqahtani, Mohammad M Alzahrani, Department of Orthopaedics, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia
Ryan Bicknell, David Pichora, Department of Orthopaedics, Queens University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Ontario, Canada
Author contributions: Alqahtani SM and Alzahrani MM contributed to the concept, design, study execution, manuscript writing and review; Bicknell R and Pichora D contributed to the concept, design, manuscript writing and review.
Institutional review board statement: Not applicable as this was a survey.
Informed consent statement: Not applicable as this was a survey.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None conflict of interest pertaining to current study.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement - checklist of items, and the manuscript was checked according to the STROBE Statement - checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mohammad M Alzahrani, FRCS, MBBS, MSc, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, King Faisal Road, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia. mmalzahrani@iau.edu.sa
Received: August 1, 2021
Peer-review started: August 1, 2021
First decision: November 11, 2021
Revised: November 12, 2021
Accepted: April 24, 2022
Article in press: April 24, 2022
Published online: May 18, 2022
Processing time: 284 Days and 12.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The nature of tasks required by hand surgeons require both forceful and repetitive maneuvers, thus subjecting these surgeons to the risk of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries during their years in practice.

AIM

To assess the prevalence, characteristics and impact of MSK disorders among hand surgeons.

METHODS

A modified version of the physical discomfort survey was sent to surgeons who were members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand via e-mail. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and Fisher's exact test. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Of the 578 respondents, 60.4% reported that they had sustained a work-related MSK injury, of which the most common diagnoses were lateral elbow epicondylitis (18.7%), low back pain (17.1%) and carpal tunnel syndrome (15.6%). Among those that reported an injury, 73.1 % required treatment and 29.2 % needed time off work as a direct result of their injury. The number of work-related injuries incurred by a surgeon increased significantly with increasing age (P < 0.003), increasing years in practice (P < 0.001) and higher case load (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge this study is the first of its kind to assess MSK injuries sustained by Hand surgeons with a high incidence. These results should increase awareness on this aspect and fuel future studies directed at preventing these types of work-related injuries, thus minimizing the financial and psychological burden on these surgeons and the healthcare system.

Keywords: Hand; Surgeon; Prevalence; Musculoskeletal disorders; Occupational injuries

Core Tip: Work-related musculoskeletal injuries are a common occurrence during the years of practice of hand surgeons. The most common diagnoses were lateral elbow epicondylitis, low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome. Awareness and knowledge of these injuries can minimize the financial and psychological burden on both surgeons and the healthcare system.