PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF WORK RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG TEA INDUSTRY WORKERS IN KIRIELLA DIVISIONAL SECRETARIAT OF SRI LANKA

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are common in tea industry workers (TIW). Tea is a main agricultural product and many Sri Lankan people are take part in industry. This study was conducted in order to find the prevalence and associated factors for WMSD in TIW in Kirriella divison. This was descriptive cross sectional study using 350 subjects. Subjects consisted with three occupation categories. The categories were tea leaves pluckers, tea factory workers and tea plantation workers. The data was collected using pre tested interviewer administered socio-demographic questionnaire and interviewer administered stranded Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Data was collected at the working environment of TIW. Data was collected on last seven days and last twelve months of WMSD. The pain was considered as an indicator to WMSD. The most severe or the most discomfort pain was recorded. For the last seven days period upper back pain was the most common pain and elbow pain was the least common pain in TIW. For the last twelve month period upper back pain was the pain with highest prevalence and the hand/wrist pain was the pain with lowest prevalence in TIW. In 95% confidence interval working duration, low water intake, less sleeping hours and non-communicable diseases showed significant association to WMSD among TIW.