Prevalence Of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Commercial Long Distance Bus Drivers In The Greater Accra Region, Ghana

ABSTRACT Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a diverse range of medical conditions that can result in inflammatory and degenerative conditions of the bones, tissues, tendons, joints, blood vessels and surrounding peripheral nerves. Less than 10% of MSDs cases have an identifiable cause or can be directly attributed to a primary event. Commercial long distance bus drivers provide a critically important service in any society by transporting a large number of people across country. Unfortunately, these drivers by the nature of their work, usually are faced with a myriad of MSDs as a consequence of prolonged sitting, constrained body position, continual repetition of movements, poor postures, force concentrated on small parts of the body such as the hand/wrist, feet and other non- driving related individual factors such as smoking. There is therefore, the need for a comprehensive data on MSDs among Commercial Long Distance Bus Drivers (CLDBDs) and the possible impact on driver performance in the Greater Accra Region. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MSDs among CLDBDs in Greater Accra Region. A cross-sectional study was used to explore individual, physical and psychosocial factors that influence the development of MSDs amongst CLDBDs using a semi-structured questionnaire and modified Nordic questionnaire. Data was entered in MS Excel and transported to SPSS version 16.0 for analysis. Further statistical analysis such as chi-square test of independence and fitting of a multinomial logistic regression mode and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to explore the association between the risk factors and MSDs. Overall, 32% and 23% of the respondents complained of upper back and neck pain respectively; with 22% and 21% reporting on lower back and shoulder pains. The least prevalent MSD was pains in the wrist/hand (2.2%) whiles none of the respondents complained of symptoms, pain or discomfort in the elbows, hips/thighs, knees and ankles/feet. These results present a picture of the prevalence of MSDs or symptoms of the disorder among the drivers studied. The age mostly affected was those from 40 years and above and those who have been involved in commercial long distance driving for 6 years or longer. There was an association between drivers aged 40 to 49 years and shoulder pain. The most common forms of treatment method sought by those who reported pains, discomfort was through the adoption of self-medication and use of herbal medicine. Majority of the CLDBDs who cover over 500km had experienced one form of MSDs or the other with the most affected body parts being upper back, neck, lower back and shoulder respectively with the wrist/hand being the least affected. The results warrant further investigations with a larger sample to ascertain the musculoskeletal disorders among commercial long distance bus drivers.