Characterizing Musculoskeletal Disorders. A Case Study Involving Kindergarten Employees

Abstract

This article presents the results of applying the Nordic Kuorinka questionnaire in a group of educators to infer musculoskeletal healthiness. The Kuorinka instrument queries the workers about postural pains and muscular afflictions that might have appeared due to systematic effort in the workplace. The sample, n = 42, included administrative workers, teachers, general services members, and kitchen individuals a kindergarten. These people execute different activities with diverse workloads. The results show that individuals with general discomfort in the last 12 months pointed at the neck as the source of the problem. In 19% of the workers, the discomfort lasted around 30 days, but the employees decided not to report the health-related event to the human resources office. 25% of the participants indicate that each episode of pain or discomfort lasted from one to four weeks. Other results indicate that among the workers incapacitated for 1 to 7 days, only 17% received medical treatment. According to Liberty Mutual, the largest workers’ compensation insurance provider in the United States, musculoskeletal diseases cost employers 13.4 billion every year the United States. Nevertheless, and perhaps more disturbing is that workers do not use the health systems after work-related discomforts. Also, corrective actions are few or non-existent in Latin American countries, perpetuating work-related diseases and increasing the burden of losing health and productivity.