Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are conditions that affect the muscles, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments, often causing pain, discomfort, or impaired movement, typically due to repetitive strain, overuse, or injury. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022), there are more than 1.7 billion people who suffer from MSDs. In our study, we focused on measuring MSDs with a modified version of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and improving the work environment in an office in Kuwait.

The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), which was developed by The Nordic Council of Ministers (Kuorinka et al., 1987), is commonly used for assessing musculoskeletal troubles in nine body parts over the last 12 months and the last 7 days. The original NMQ also evaluates whether the trouble prevented the person from doing his/her normal work (at home or away from home) over the last 12 months, while the modified version that we proposed in this study collects the same information for both the last 12 months and the last 7 days as well. According to the data we collected from 38 participants in the preliminary stage of our study, our modified version of the NMQ collects more information than the original NMQ without increasing the data collection time statistically significantly as the paired t-test resulted in a p-value which is greater than 0.05.

Using the modified version of NMQ in an office in Kuwait, we identified the most troublesome body parts of 50 workers—none of them belong to our preliminary study with 38 participants—as neck, shoulders, upper back, and lower back. Based on our results, we provided ergonomic improvement suggestions including lumbar support, neck support, and stretching exercises. We also conducted an ergonomic awareness seminar for the workers and gave them leaflets and posters for stretching and keeping a healthy posture while at work and any other location.

MSDs develop over time and, if uncontrolled, worsen as the person ages. We think that the workers that we have contacted will have improved quality of life and less musculoskeletal trouble in the following years of their careers and personal lives. A follow-up study may be conducted after several years to see the improvement if the same workers can be reached at that time.

References:

Kuorinka, I., Jonsson, B., Kilbom, A., Vinterberg, H., Biering-Sørensen, F., Andersson, G., & Jørgensen, K. (1987). Standardised Nordic questionnaires for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms. Applied Ergonomics, 18(3), 233-237.

World Health Organization. (2022, July 14). Musculoskeletal health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/musculoskeletal-conditions