Korean J Occup Health Nurs.  2020 Nov;29(4):342-353. 10.5807/kjohn.2020.29.4.342.

Effects of Workplace Risk Assessment-based Ergonomic Intervention on Work-Related Muscular Skeletal Disorders: Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

• Cho JY
• Kim Ge

• KMID: 2509005
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5807/kjohn.2020.29.4.342

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed to systematically review literature and conduct a meta-analysis to comprehensively identify and evaluate the effects of workplace risk assessment-based ergonomic intervention on work-related muscular-skeletal disorders in workers.
Methods
We searched the Ovid-Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane library and up to 2018 using search terms such as muscular-skeletal, disorder, impairment, work-related muscular-skeletal disorders, ergonomic, intervention, management with no language limitations; screened reference lists; and contacted experts in the field.
Results
We identified 545 references and included 13 randomized controlled tests (3,368 workers). We judged nine studies to have a low risk of bias, while the other four studies have a high risk of bias.
Conclusion
Ergonomic intervention based on risk assessment in the workplace did not significantly differ in terms of the intensity of pain or duration of workers in the workplace, but low-quality evidence decreased the frequency of musculoskeletal disorder pain in three to six months moderate-quality evidence and in six to nine months low-quality evidence. Besides, low-quality evidence to reduce discomfort and moderate-quality evidence to improve worker posture. Therefore, ergonomic intervention based on the assessment of risk factors in the workplace should be applied to reduce pain frequency and discomfort and improve workers posture among musculoskeletal disorders.

Keyword

Muscular skeletal disorders; Ergonomic interventions; Workplace risk assessment; Meta-analysis