Relationship between risk factors at workplace and upper limb work-related musculoskeletal pain among poultry slaughterhouse workers: A cross‑sectional study

Background: Poultry slaughterhouse workers (PSW) are exposed to various risk factors at work that contributes to upper limb work-related musculoskeletal pain (UL-WMSP) at workplace. Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between various risk factors at workplace and UL-WMSP among PSW. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Thailand among 98 PSW (52 women and 46 men). A self-reported form was used to collect demographic factors and job task profile among PSW. Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) was used to evaluate the risk of poor posture at work. The relationship between the risk factors and prevalence of UL-WMSP was evaluated through univariate logistic regression analysis (AMSEC-64EX-112). Results: About 86.7% (N=85) of PSW reported UL-WMSP over the last 12 months, and 68.4% (N=67) reported UL-WMSP during the period of the last 7 days. Around 91.8% (N=90) of PSW exhibited a poor posture at work with RULA scores at 7 or more indicating a high level of risk for UL-WMSP. Risk factors such as age (p<0.04) was significantly related with prevalence of UL-WMSP over the period of the last 7 days. A significant relationship was also found between job tasks such as poultry abdominal slitting task (p<0.02), poultry cutting-up task (p<0.03), types of tool use (p<0.01), poor posture (p<0.01) and prevalence of UL-WMSP over the last 12 months. Conclusion: Risk factors such as age, job tasks and poor posture are related to UL-WMSP among PSW at workplace. There is an essential need to develop musculoskeletal health and wellbeing program for the PSW to reduce UL-WMSP at the workplace and to create a healthy working environment.