Influence of stretching program in factory workers, prevalence of musculoskelet...

• Author(s): Rodrigues, Abel ; Mendes, Ana ; Gonçalves, Rui
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/2449
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
• Subject(s): Musculoskeletal symptoms; Work ability; Stretching program; Factory workers
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: Portuguese

Description

Introduction: Musculoskeletal injuries have become a major health problem in the industrialized world. Objective: Evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in factory workers and compare the ability to work comparatively to subjects with and without symptoms prevalence. Evaluate the influence of a self-static stretches program in the prevalence of symptoms in the last 7 days, pain intensity and ability to work. Methods: The sample consisted of factory workers at two factories in the Castelo Branco district. At T0 the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) for the survey of musculoskeletal symptoms was applied, and to assess the ability to work and physical activity level were applied the Work Ability Index (WAI) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), respectively. Subsequently, the workers of factory A were divided into a control group (CG) and experimental group (EG), the latter being subjected to a program of self-static stretches. At T1 were again applied the NMQ and WAI, in both groups. Results: In factory A (n=131) there was a high prevalence of symptoms at the upper limbs, and in B (n=50) at the level of the lower limbs and lower back. Individuals with occurrence of symptoms present greater hour load, service time and Body Mass Index (BMI), and more/less time sitting. Workers with prevalence of symptoms have a lower WAI, and there was a negative association between pain intensity and WAI. In EG there was found, between T0 and T1, a significant decrease in the intensity of lower back pain (p=0.011). Conclusions: The results show the need for urgent intervention in industry, mainly directed to the most prevailing body regions. Some mentioned factors should be reduced, but the results do not indicate causality. The results of the program of self-static stretches were not in favor of the hypotheses, therefore more research is needed to confirm these results.