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A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community

INTRODUCTION: As demand for orthopaedic care increases, the orthopaedic community must preserve access to skilled physicians. Workplace hazards and related injuries or conditions contribute to musculoskeletal (MSK) stress on orthopaedic surgeons, which can lead to undesirable medical leaves of absen...

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Autores principales: Swank, Katherine R., Furness, Jamie E., Baker, Erin, Gehrke, Corinn K., Rohde, Rachel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9132526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35608969
http://dx.doi.org/10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-20-00244
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author Swank, Katherine R.
Furness, Jamie E.
Baker, Erin
Gehrke, Corinn K.
Rohde, Rachel
author_facet Swank, Katherine R.
Furness, Jamie E.
Baker, Erin
Gehrke, Corinn K.
Rohde, Rachel
author_sort Swank, Katherine R.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: As demand for orthopaedic care increases, the orthopaedic community must preserve access to skilled physicians. Workplace hazards and related injuries or conditions contribute to musculoskeletal (MSK) stress on orthopaedic surgeons, which can lead to undesirable medical leaves of absence or early retirement. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize work-related and non–work-related MSK conditions that affect orthopaedic surgeons and differential injury patterns among male and female surgeons. This study hypothesized that MSK conditions would be exacerbated by work, correlate with age, and show gender-based disparities. Identifying MSK conditions and associated workplace hazards may ultimately help guide preventive or protective efforts. METHODS: Following IRB and society approvals, a modified 15-question physical discomfort survey was emailed to a randomized selection of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) members and all Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society members. Data were deidentified and merged by AAOS; analyses were performed by the authors. RESULTS: Most surgeons reported at least one MSK condition (86%; 95% male versus 82% female, P = 0.317), with an average of two conditions per surgeon. Low back pain (56%) and neck pain (42%) were the two most common conditions reported. Male surgeons were more likely to report medial epicondylitis (P = 0.040), lateral epicondylitis (P ≤ 0.001), low back pain (P = 0.001), and lumbar radiculopathy (P = 0.001); however, male respondents were significantly older than female respondents (57 versus 43 years, P ≤ 0.0001), and some conditions were age-correlated. Most respondents reported at least one work-attributed MSK condition (64%; 68% male versus 62% female, P = 0.806). Caseload was not associated with an increased number of work-related MSK conditions; yet, 60% of surgeons reported that work worsened symptoms. Surgical treatment was sought most often for lumbar radiculopathy (6%) and carpal tunnel syndrome (6%). Sixty-nine leaves of absence were reported; most less than 1 month (55%). Exacerbating workplace factors included positioning (patient/surgeon), instruments, and personal protective equipment. DISCUSSION: Work-related MSK conditions are common among orthopaedic surgeons. Greater awareness of potential workplace-related hazards and conditions is needed to address and mitigate negative MSK health effects on orthopaedic surgeons.
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spelling pubmed-91325262022-05-27 A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community Swank, Katherine R. Furness, Jamie E. Baker, Erin Gehrke, Corinn K. Rohde, Rachel J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev Research Article INTRODUCTION: As demand for orthopaedic care increases, the orthopaedic community must preserve access to skilled physicians. Workplace hazards and related injuries or conditions contribute to musculoskeletal (MSK) stress on orthopaedic surgeons, which can lead to undesirable medical leaves of absence or early retirement. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize work-related and non–work-related MSK conditions that affect orthopaedic surgeons and differential injury patterns among male and female surgeons. This study hypothesized that MSK conditions would be exacerbated by work, correlate with age, and show gender-based disparities. Identifying MSK conditions and associated workplace hazards may ultimately help guide preventive or protective efforts. METHODS: Following IRB and society approvals, a modified 15-question physical discomfort survey was emailed to a randomized selection of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) members and all Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society members. Data were deidentified and merged by AAOS; analyses were performed by the authors. RESULTS: Most surgeons reported at least one MSK condition (86%; 95% male versus 82% female, P = 0.317), with an average of two conditions per surgeon. Low back pain (56%) and neck pain (42%) were the two most common conditions reported. Male surgeons were more likely to report medial epicondylitis (P = 0.040), lateral epicondylitis (P ≤ 0.001), low back pain (P = 0.001), and lumbar radiculopathy (P = 0.001); however, male respondents were significantly older than female respondents (57 versus 43 years, P ≤ 0.0001), and some conditions were age-correlated. Most respondents reported at least one work-attributed MSK condition (64%; 68% male versus 62% female, P = 0.806). Caseload was not associated with an increased number of work-related MSK conditions; yet, 60% of surgeons reported that work worsened symptoms. Surgical treatment was sought most often for lumbar radiculopathy (6%) and carpal tunnel syndrome (6%). Sixty-nine leaves of absence were reported; most less than 1 month (55%). Exacerbating workplace factors included positioning (patient/surgeon), instruments, and personal protective equipment. DISCUSSION: Work-related MSK conditions are common among orthopaedic surgeons. Greater awareness of potential workplace-related hazards and conditions is needed to address and mitigate negative MSK health effects on orthopaedic surgeons. Wolters Kluwer 2022-05-24 /pmc/articles/PMC9132526/ /pubmed/35608969 http://dx.doi.org/10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-20-00244 Text en Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0 (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Swank, Katherine R.
Furness, Jamie E.
Baker, Erin
Gehrke, Corinn K.
Rohde, Rachel
A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title_full A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title_fullStr A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title_full_unstemmed A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title_short A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Identifying Injuries, Exacerbating Workplace Factors, and Treatment Patterns in the Orthopaedic Community
title_sort survey of musculoskeletal disorders in the orthopaedic surgeon: identifying injuries, exacerbating workplace factors, and treatment patterns in the orthopaedic community
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9132526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35608969
http://dx.doi.org/10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-20-00244
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