1. Risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in manual harvesting farmers of Rajasthan
- Author
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Awadhesh Bhardwaj, Rahul Jain, Makkhan Lal Meena, and Govind Sharan Dangayach
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Shoulders ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,India ,Workload ,Logistic regression ,Upper Extremity ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Environmental health ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Low back pain ,Musculoskeletal Diseases ,050107 human factors ,Farmers ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Age Factors ,Human factors and ergonomics ,Agriculture ,Middle Aged ,030210 environmental & occupational health ,Logistic models ,Agricultural Workers' Diseases ,Hand dominance ,Risk factors ,Body region ,Original Article ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Manual harvesting is a physically demanding occupation with several work-related issues in which musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) happen most commonly. The risk factors for MSDs among manual harvesting farmers are not investigated properly in low and low-middle-income nations. Therefore, a study among 140 farmers of Rajasthan, India was carried out through the usage of Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) technique to identify ergonomic risks. χ2 analysis was used to find the relationship between the MSDs and various factors. Also, logistic regression methodology was applied to get the most influencing factor for MSDs in different body regions. The lower-back, fingers, shoulders and wrists/hands were the body parts in which more than 50% workers reported MSDs. MSDs in one or more body regions were found to be associated with age, daily working in farms, farming experience, gender, hand dominance and perceived work fatigue. The age was majorly associated with MSDs in all body regions except the shoulder and neck as per the outcome of logistic regression. The outcome of RULA grand score had been found higher than or equal to 5 in 92% of the farmers which give directions for further research and changes.
- Published
- 2018