# Frequency of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapists: a systematic review

## TL;DR

Physical therapists often suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with low back pain being the most common.

## Contribution

This systematic review provides updated prevalence data on musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapists from 2015 to 2021.

## Key findings

- 75.27% of physical therapists experience work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
- Low back pain is the most prevalent disorder, affecting 54.97% of therapists.
- Neck, shoulder, and knee pain are also commonly reported among physical therapists.

## Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are common among physical therapists because of
constant physical work and mechanical stress during interventions. The aim is to
synthesize the information of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among
physical therapists. A systematic review of observational studies was conducted
on PubMed and Google Academics, considering for searching the period of 2015 and
2021. The methodological quality of the studies included were appraised using
the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. The average percentages were calculated
by adding the percentages of individual studies for each region and divided by
the total number of studies. A total of 74 articles was screened, and 20 of
which were assessed. In general, the frequency of work-related musculoskeletal
disorders was high (75.27%), with low back pain (54.97%) in first, followed by
neck pain (36.16%), upper back pain (30.18%), shoulder (25.52%), hand/wrist
(20.92%; 28.32%) and knees (19.08%). It was concluded that physical therapists
have high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, in which low
back, neck, shoulder pain and knees were the most reported body regions.