Musculoskeletal complaints among physiotherapy and occupational therapy rehabilitation professionals in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals are at high risk of developing occupational musculoskeletal injuries globally. Musculoskeletal pain is the most common problem. OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent of discomfort that physiotherapy and occupational therapy health professionals report while working at a physical rehabilitation centre. PARTICIPANTS: Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals which include both graduate and diploma physiotherapists and occupational therapists as well as physiotherapy and occupational therapy assistants. METHODS: A self administered questionnaire (survey) was conducted on a convenient sample of 101 physiotherapy and occupational therapy personnel. RESULTS: The mean age of the 101 participants was 27.8 (+/- 4.5) years and most of the participants (62%) had less than 5 years of work experience. Ninety-five percent of the participants complained of work related pain. Most of the participants reported pain in the lower back (n = 84) followed by upper back (n = 71) and neck (n = 66). Significant associations were found for pain in ankles/feet with age (p = 0.05) and pain in neck with gender (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Physiotherapy and occupational therapy professionals suffer from pain in relation to the work they do as therapists which may be due to non-practice of appropriate body mechanics. Mechanism to assess level of practice during dealing with patients may be introduced to enable corrective measures. Incentives should be considered for appropriate practice.