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Methods

This was a case study comparing exposed workers with control group using Standard Nordic Questionnair in sewing machine operators of a shoe manufacturing factory in Iran. In this study, the mentioned questionnaires were filled out for the exposed group (25 sewing machine operators with average age of 43.5 years with work records of 16.8 years) and control group (15 employees from administrative department with average age of 39.8 years with work records of 13.4 years) which both were selected through simple random method.

Results

There were statistically significant differences in age between musculoskeletal disorders of right elbow (p= 0.033), thigh (p= 0.044), both knees (p= 0.019) and ankles (p= 0.039). There were also statistically significant association between gender and musculoskeletal disorders of right elbow (p= 0.028), thigh (p= 0.026) both knees (p= 0.011); right shoulder disorders (p= 0.018) and work records; disorders of both knees (p= 0.031) and number of cigarettes smoked.

Conclusions

In general, prevalence of disorders of cervical area, shoulders with hands, vertebral column, back, knees, thigh with feet were higher in exposed group due to poor work posture. Meanwhile, female workers were inflicted more than males. On the other hand, these disorders were seen more with increased work records and age in which, improvement of work postures, training for better execution of tasks and conducting periodic screening tests are being recommended.