Prevalence and risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries related to endoscopy

Background There are limited data regarding work-related injury among endoscopists. Objective To define the prevalence of endoscopy-related musculoskeletal injuries and their impact on clinical practice and to identify physician and practice characteristics associated with their development. Design Survey. Setting Electronic survey of active members of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy with registered e-mail addresses. Participants Physicians who currently or ever performed endoscopy and responded to the survey between February 2013 and November 2013. Intervention A 25-question, self-administered, electronic survey. Main Outcome Measurements Prevalence, location, and ramifications of work-related injuries and endoscopist characteristics and workload parameters associated with endoscopy-related injury. Results The survey was completed by 684 endoscopists. Of those, 362 (53%) experienced a musculoskeletal injury perceived definitely (n = 204) or possibly (n = 158) related to endoscopy. Factors associated with a higher rate of endoscopy-related injury included higher procedure volume (>20 cases/week; P < .001), greater number of hours per week spent performing endoscopy (>16 hours/week; P < .001), and total number of years performing endoscopy ( P = .004). The most common sites of injury were neck and/or upper back (29%) and thumb (28%). Only 55% of injured endoscopists used practice modifications in response to injuries. Specific treatments included medications (57%), steroid injection (27%), physiotherapy (45%), rest (34%), splinting (23%), and surgery (13%). Limitations Self-reported data of endoscopy-related injury. Conclusion Among endoscopists there is a high prevalence of injuries definitely or potentially related to endoscopy. Higher procedure volume, more time doing endoscopy per week, and cumulative years performing endoscopy are associated with more work-related injuries.