The Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Miners around the World: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are responsible for significant problem for workers’ health. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among mining workers. METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis study were designed in 2020 (from Jan to Mar). The researchers searched five international databases Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science. All analyzes were performed using STATA statistical software. RESULTS: The search results were 447 articles and after screening stage finally 50 studies were included in review. The highest number of studies (26 studies) reported the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of upper back and 4 studies reported the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of the arms and ankles & feet. The results of meta-analysis based on prevalence in different organs showed that the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was in the upper back and the lowest in the knees with a prevalence of 50.39% (CI 95%: 31.23–54.73%) and 16.03% (CI 95%: 11.78–20.28%), respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among miners is relatively high. Therefore, supervisors and mine managers should pay more attention to reducing musculoskeletal disorders and increasing the ergonomic level of mines in order to increase workers’ health.