Three Predictors of Shoulder Pain in Nursing Home Workers

A lower body mass index (BMI), a higher-level job title, and having a work-through-the-pain style were all predictors of work-related shoulder injuries in nursing assistants working in nursing homes, according to a study published online in PeerJ. 

“Redesigning jobs with more breaks and reducing the work demand, and introducing multidisciplinary exercise programs, should be explored further to improve workstyle behaviors and enhance the musculoskeletal health of nursing assistants,” wrote researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Nursing. 

For the study, researchers collected information on work-related shoulder musculoskeletal symptoms and multiple other factors using a validated questionnaire completed by 440 nursing assistants from 47 nursing homes in Hong Kong.  

In all, 53% of nursing assistants reported experiencing work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in their shoulders. After adjusting for age and gender, researchers found that BMI, a job title of health worker, and workstyle each predicted musculoskeletal shoulder symptoms. 

“For Asian people, BMIs between 23.0–24.9 kg/m² and 25.0 kg/m² or above are classified as overweight and obese, respectively,” researchers explained. “A further examination of our data showed that nursing assistants with shoulder work-related musculoskeletal symptoms had lower BMI (M=24.3 kg/m²) (ie, overweight) than those without (M=25.1 kg/m²) (ie, obese).” 

The study also showed that nursing assistants classified as health workers, a higher-level position than personal care workers in Hong Kong, had increased shoulder injuries. The odds ratio of shoulder pain for nursing assistants with the health worker title was 2.72, researchers reported. 

“Last but not least, working through pain was also a significant predictor for nursing assistants experiencing shoulder work-related musculoskeletal symptoms,” researchers wrote. “Working through pain is an adverse workstyle behavior in which an individual keeps working despite increasing pain and other work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. Our finding was consistent with other studies.” 

Reference:
Cheung K, Ma KY, Cheung HH, et al. Predictors of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in shoulders among nursing assistants working in nursing homes. PeerJ. 2021;9:e11152. Published 2021 May 3. doi:10.7717/peerj.11152