Work related musculoskeletal disorders and anxiety in surgeons working in Greek hospitals

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and anxiety among surgeons working in Greek hospitals. METHOD The study population consisted of 68 surgeons working in the Greek regions of Attiki, Achaia and Rhodes, who completed voluntarily 3 questionnaires: (a) A demographic questionnaire covering age, gender, weight, height and information about their working routine (hours per week, years of surgery), (b) a modified Greek-language version of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire, and (c) the State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0. RESULTS The 68 participating surgeons, 49 men and 19 women had a median age of 41.0 +/- 4.6 years, range 27-59 years. Most of the surgeons (82.3%) reported at least one musculoskeletal disorder during the last year. The most common anatomical area involved was the lumbar area (54.4 %), followed by the shoulders (35.3%) and the neck (33.8%). There were no gender differences in the main areas of reported pain and discomfort, with the lumbar area being more common in both men and women; 53.8% and 56.3%, respectively. Most surgeons reported as the main cause of musculoskeletal disorders bad posture (70.4%) and long hours of standing (77-8 %). Their scores on the State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire scores indicated a low level of anxiety amongst surgeons. CONCLUSIONS This study found that most of the surgeons reported at least one recent musculoskeletal disorder, most frequently affecting the lumbar area.