Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Effect of Ergonomic Interventions on Pain Alleviation and Work Satisfaction among Food Factory Workers

Background and Objective: Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common occupational injuries among the food factory workers. This disorder is one of the 10 injuries leading to absenteeism in the workplace. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders caused in the workplace along with the effect of ergonomic interventions on pain relief and its relationship with job satisfaction among the workers working at the food factory. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study utilized a Nordic questionnaire and quick exposure checklist to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and assess the risk factors, respectively. Moreover, the severity of pain and work satisfaction assessment were evaluated using the visual analog scale and a Minnesota questionnaire, respectively. Furthermore, eight weeks of ergonomic interventions were applied based on the protection and health regulations of the Ministry of Labor. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to compare the intergroup and intragroup comparisons, respectively. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24). Results: According to the results, the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was observed in the lower back (63.39%), knee (58.28%), wrist (33.33%), and neck (30.71%) regions. Moreover, the results of the statistical paired t-test showed that after eight weeks of ergonomic interventions, the pain in the lower back (P=0.001) and knee (P=0.003) regions was significantly reduced, followed by a significant increase in work satisfaction (P=0.001). In addition, there was a negative significant relationship between work satisfaction and musculoskeletal disorders among the workers (P=0.05). Conclusion: Musculoskeletal disorder had a high prevalence among the population under study. Moreover, it had a negative correlation with work satisfaction. However, ergonomic interventions had positive effects on alleviating the pain caused by work-related musculoskeletal disorders and increased work satisfaction among the workers.