ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
The professionals who work in pre-hospital care are exposed to unhealthy environments, which can represent risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Thus, the objective of this study was to observe the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in professionals of the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) and identify its associated factors.
METHODS:
Cross-sectional study, carried out at three SAMU bases in Pernambuco. Ninety five professionals were evaluated, of both sexes and age range between 21-58 years old, being (n=36: ambulance drivers, n=38: nursing technicians, n=15: nurses and n=6: physicians). For the musculoskeletal pain evaluation, the Nordic Questionnaire of Musculoskeletal Symptoms was used. To quantify the intensity of pain, the visual analogue scale was used.
RESULTS:
Musculoskeletal pain was reported by 71.6% (n=68) of the rescuers; of these, only 18% (n=17) mentioned that they already had these pains before their SAMU labor activity. Nursing technicians were the professionals most affected by the musculoskeletal pain (89.5%), followed by nurses (73.3%), ambulance drivers (55.6%) and the physicians (50%). The lumbar spine (53.5%), knees (32.6%) and cervical spine (30.5%) were the body regions most affected by pain and the female sex was associated with musculoskeletal pain presence (p=0.024).
CONCLUSION:
High musculoskeletal pain prevalence was observed among professionals of SAMU, especially in the nursing professionals. In addition, the female sex was shown to be a factor associated with musculoskeletal pain presence in this group of professionals.
Keywords:
Emergency medical services; Knee joint; Low back pain; Neck pain; Occupational health.