ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 134
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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Prevalence and factors associated with musculoskeletal
pain among primary care physicians in Singapore
Dr Lydia Chee Jia Yi, Ms Hui Li Koh, Dr Shu Yun Tan
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National Healthcare Group Polyclinic
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Background and aim
Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is a common ailment that affects workers across many industries,
including healthcare workers. It has the potential to affect work performance and, in turn, the quality of
patient care. Among the healthcare professions, studies (outside of Singapore) reported a prevalence
of musculoskeletal pain of 20–91.2%. There is, however, a lack of studies looking specifically at
primary care physicians. To address this knowledge gap, our study aimed to understand the
prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and explore its associated risk factors among public primary care
physicians (PCPs) in Singapore.
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Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among PCPs practising in a primary healthcare cluster.
Data were collected using a self-administered web-based questionnaire that included information on
demographic information and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ).
Results
There were 198 PCPs in the study, of which 175 (88.4%) reported the presence of musculoskeletal
pain in at least one body region in the past 12 months. The most common sites of pain were the
neck (70.7%), lower back (60.1%) and shoulder (49.5%). We found that females had a higher risk of
musculoskeletal pain (OR 3.60; 95% CI: 1.07, 12.11) as compared to males. Participants who reported
doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 5–7 days per week had a lower risk of musculoskeletal
pain (OR 0.18; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.87) as compared to participants who were involved in moderate-tovigorous physical activity 0–2 days per week.
Conclusion
Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among our local primary care
physicians. Female gender was associated with a higher risk of musculoskeletal pain. Participants
with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of at least 150 minutes per week had lower risk
of musculoskeletal pain. Further research can be conducted to explore these risk factors for
musculoskeletal pain and its impact on productivity and quality of care. This would help in the
development of preventive measures with the goal of reducing musculoskeletal pain among PCPs.
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