Prevalence and risk factors of MSD among Portuguese nurses: Preliminary results from a national study

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major problem across European countries and to a considerable extent are related to work demands. Nurses are a professional group with a high prevalence of MSDs, in particular low back pain and neck/shoulder pain. The etiology of some of these disorders, like low back pain and neck/shoulder pain, is multifactorial but several studies point out psychosocial factors and physical load, like patient handling tasks, to be related with them. In this context, self-reporting was the way chosen to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and its association with various risk factors. It is expected to give important information about nurses at a national level.