The Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders and its Predictors among Iranians’ Housewives

ABSTRACT 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

Evaluation the posture of bank employees by using two methods RULA and OCRA

Bank employees are at risk of musculoskeletal problems because of the physical and mental requirements of the job. Studies show that more than 60 percent of bank employees have been directly or indirectly involved in many factors, such as personal characteristics, conditions and workstations, stress and repetitive movements. The aim of this study was to evaluate the RULA and OCRA methods of risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in the bank staff. This study was carried out in order to assess the physical status of 80 the bank employees using two methods: RULA and OCRA. According to the results, the average score RULA and OCRA are 4.13±1.14 and 0.300±0.088, respectively. Statistically significant t - tests show differences between RULA and OCRA assessment methods. The RULA scores for the three age groups were also not significantly different, as they also apply to the OCRA score. Though, there are similarities between the two methods especially in assessment of repetitive motion in upper limb, but OCRA method propose as appropriate method to MSDs risk evaluate, so is not recommended to use two method instead of each other

Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viability of human spermatozoa

Background: The extensive use of different nanoparticles has raised great concerns about their occupational and biological safety. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on viability of spermatozoa. Materials and Methods: Semen samples were obtained from 15 healthy persons, and were analyzed using WHO guidelines. Each semen sample was separately incubated with different concentrations of ZnO NPs (10, 100, 500, and 1000 μg/mL) at 37PoPC for 45, 90, and 180 minutes. Then, the cell death percentage of spermatozoa was measured by MTT assay. Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison of different times and concentrations. Results: The maximum cell death percentage was 20.8%, 21.2%, and 33.2% after 45, 90, and 180 minutes, respectively. In case of concentration, the highest concentration (1000 μg/mL) of ZnO NPs led to the highest toxicity for all incubation times. Statistically, there were significant differences in cell viability after 180 minutes vs. 45 and 90 minutes. Conclusion: This study indicated that cytotoxicity of ZnO NPs is dose and time dependent