The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and its predictors among Iranians’ Housewives

Background and aims: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common among housewives. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of MSDs and its predictors among a group of Iranian housewives. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out on 600 Iranian housewives in 2014 that were selected using multistage random sampling from three cities including Karaj, Kashan and Yazd. The data were collected using Nordic questionnaire and were analyzed in SPSS software using chi-square and multiple linear regressions with Hosmer-Lemshow method. Results: The total prevalence of MSDs was 53% and was not different in three cities (P>0.05). The highest prevalence of pain was found to be in the back region (51.33%), followed by neck (51%) and shoulder (41.5%) and least at wrist (40.5%). The possibility of pain in neck was related to husband’s job (governmental compared to self-employed OR=1.6, CI 95%:1.09-2.63), older age (OR=1.06, CI 95%:1.01-1.11), higher height (OR=1.09, CI 95%:1.03-2.09), and more marriage duration (OR=1.08, CI 95%:1.01-2.05). The possibility of pain in back was related to educational level [guidance (OR=0.38, CI 95%:0.15-0.95) and high school (OR=0.31, CI 95%:0.13-0.94) compared to primary school] and heavier weight (OR=1.07, CI 95%:1.04-2.19), and finally the possibility of pain in shoulder was related to dominant hand [right hand compared to both hand (OR=4.6, CI 95%:1.2-17.8)]. Conclusion: Present study showed that the prevalence of MSDs in Iranian housewives is high and the educational level, height, weight and having husband with governmental job are as important predictors of MSDs among housewives. However, ergonomic training and informing the housewives about the risk factors of MSDs could prevent and postponed the occurrence of these disorders.