Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among taxi drivers in Yaoundé, Cameroon: preventive effect of physical activity

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are very common conditions in the workplace. Among professional drivers, there would be an increased risk of developing these disorders. Identifying the associated factors would allow us to better devise effective prevention strategies. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of MSDs among taxi drivers in the city of Yaoundé and to search for associated factors, mainly the level of physical activity. METHODS: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study of 151 adult male professional taxi drivers. We used a non-probabilistic consecutive and non-exhaustive sampling method. Sociodemographic, anthropometric and occupational data were collected. MSDs over the past 12 months were assessed using the Nordic Questionnaire and physical activity level was determined by the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Univariate logistic regression models, followed by a multivariate logistic regression, were used to determine factors associated with the presence of MSDs. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of MSDs was 86.8% (95% CI 80.8 – 91.4); the most affected areas were mainly the lower back (72.8%) the neck (42.4%), and the knees (29.1%). Job dissatisfaction was associated with MSDs (OR = 2.1 95%CI = 1.1–3.9). Most taxi drivers (62.9%) had a low physical activity level and no association was found between the physical activity level and MSDs. CONCLUSIONS: MSDs are common ailments among taxi drivers in Yaoundé (Cameroon). There is a need to think about how to address job dissatisfaction and better identify other associated factors in order to define good prevention strategies.