Workstation Ergonomic Risk Factors and its associations with Common Musculoskeletal Complaints among Academic Staff of a Ghanaian Higher Institution: A survey

Background: Despite the exposure of academic staff to the ergonomic risk factors associated with workstation seat, the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints (MSCs) is under-reported in higher institutions of learning in Ghana. We therefore evaluated the workstation seat in relation to the academics’ body dimensions and the associations of the outcome with MSCs. Materials and Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional study were academic staff of a foremost health training institution in Ghana. They were enrolled into the study using convenience sampling method. We evaluated the body-chair dimension of the participants individually at each workstation using non-elastic 3-meter long tape measure. Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and ergonomics assessment checklist were used to determine the prevalence and ergonomic risk factors of MSC. Data analysis involved mean, frequency and standard deviation. We analyzed the association between body-chair dimensions and self-reported MSCs with Chi square test, at P < 0.05 level of significance. Results: Eighty-two (82) academic staff comprising 54, (65.9%) males and (28, 34.1) females participated fully in the study, of which 69 (84.2%) were Senior Lecturers. Thirty-four (41.5%) of the lecturers had worked between 5 and 10 years. The period and point prevalence of MSCs were 64.6% and 59.6% respectively. The body-chair mismatch and workstation ergonomic risk factors were significant associated with (P <0.001) MSCs.Conclusion: Our findings indicate moderate prevalence of MSCs among the participants with low back pain being the most reported complaint, which seemed to have a link with body-chair dimension mismatch. These findings are implicated for procurement policy, regarding workstation seat in higher institutions.