PREVALENCE OF VARIOUS MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS IN CHILD CARE WORKERS IN DAY CARE SETTINGS

Child care workers are those who take care of children in the absence of their parents. Child care workers are exposed to various kinds of occupational injuries which include infections, sprains and strains, trauma like bites from children, trip falls and noise exposure. The risks of injury among these workers are due to their nature of the job. One of the common occupational risks found in these workers is musculoskeletal injury, it occurs as a result of working in awkward postures such as bending, twisting, lifting and carrying in incorrect positions, which may result in various injuries like strain, sprain and soft tissue ruptures. Workers with poor physical conditioning may tend to undergo these changes very rapidly. The purpose of this study was to find out the prevalence of various musculoskeletal disorders in child care workers who are taking care of the babies. The study was conducted around various day care centres, among 160 women from who were chosen for the study and were given musculoskeletal analysis questionnaires (Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire) , The Questionnaires were evaluated using descriptive statistics, analysed using SPSS and the results were computed in percentage. Following the analysis, it was concluded that low back injury was predominant among 44% of workers followed by 18% with neck pain, 11% of shoulder pain, 9% of knee pain, 7% of elbow, 6% of wrist, 4% of others and surprisingly 1 % had no musculoskeletal complaints.