Association Between Shifting Work and Musculoskeletal Disorders among Workers working in Steel Industry Application of Multivariate Logistic Regression

Aims: Due to the increasing development of industries and the need for continuous and intensive work, work-related diseases, such as Work- Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSD), have increased. The present study was carried out to evaluate the association between shifting work and WRMSD. Instruments Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 300 male workers recruited from Mobarakeh Steel Company Esfahan, Iran during May 2015 till June 2016. The participants in this study were selected by two-stage random sampling (stratify-cluster sampling) in 3 shift categories (day worker, ordinary and rotation shifting worker) and then responded to the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Data were analysed using SPSS software (version 24) and ML-win software (version 2.3). Findings: The mean age of the participant was 42.4(SD=8.19), 39.82(SD=8.48) and 44.4(SD=3.57) years in day worker, ordinary and rotation shift worker respectively. The results showed that over the past seven days, the risk of shoulder disorders in ordinary shifts was significantly (OR=1.66, P value=0.04) higher than the rotational shift. The risk of elbow disorders during the seven days or the past 12 months in ordinary shifts was significantly (OR = 0.38, P-value=0.01) lower than the rotational shift worker. Conclusion: According to the result of this study, considering shifting work greatly is helpful in preventing WRMSD. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to working conditions and risk factors for shoulder, elbow, and legs disorders