Interventions to prevent and reduce work-related musculoskeletal injuries and pain among healthcare professionals. A comprehensive systematic review of the literature

Introduction: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are among the main causes of injury and pain in healthcare professionals. Previous reviews provided a fragmented view of the interventions avail-able for WMSDs. This review aims to provide a comprehensive description of interventions for preventing and reducing work-related musculoskeletal injuries and/or pain among healthcare professionals, and to assess the methodological quality of studies. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed, based on the Effective Public Health Practice Project process. A comprehensive search was conducted on six peer-reviewed databases and manually. The methodological quality of the studies included was rated as weak, moderate, or strong. The studies were organized based on the 2019 classification of the interventions by Oakman and colleagues. Results: Twenty-seven articles were included reporting individ-ual (n = 4), task-specific (n = 4), work organization and job design (n = 2), work environment (n = 1), and multifactorial (n = 16) interventions. Overall quality rating was strong for 6 studies, moderate for 16, and weak for 5. Individual interventions such as neuromuscular and physical exercise were effective in reduc-ing pain. Task-specific and work organization interventions could prevent certain injuries. Significant reduction of both injuries and pain resulted from multifactorial interventions, which were reported by the majority of strong (n = 5) and moderate (n = 10) quality articles. Conclusions: This review provides healthcare professionals with evidence-based information to plan interventions targeted towards reduc-ing WMSDs. In particular, more efforts are needed to implement and extend effective multifactorial inter-ventions. Moreover, studies about each professional healthcare target group are needed. Practical Application: Our results can guide policy-makers, healthcare managers and professionals to choose the best strategies to prevent and reduce WMSDs and to shape continuous education programs. This study prompts clinicians to develop inter-professional collaborations and to practice physical activities in order to reduce WMSDs.(c) 2022 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aims to provide a comprehensive description of interventions for preventing and reducing work-related musculoskeletal injuries and/or pain among healthcare professionals, and to assess the methodological quality of studies. The results suggest that multifactorial interventions are effective in reducing injuries and pain, while individual and task-specific interventions also have some preventive effects. Further research is needed to study interventions targeted at different healthcare professional groups.