Work-related musculoskeletal disorders, psychosocial factors, work productivity, and work ability among Garment factory workers in Myanmar

Abstract

Background - Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) are the most common occupational problem worldwide. The magnitude of WRMSD is worsened by the physical and psychological factors in different occupations. The global burden of WRMSD comprises the second most common cause of disability; most frequent back pain, measured by Years lived with disability (YLDs) worldwide. Workability also plays a crucial role that links with productivity and WRMSD. Musculoskeletal disorders are also one of the most common causes of YLDS in the working-age group (20-54Years) take in more than 45% of the proportion. Sewing machine operators are one of the common occupational sectors that may encounter a high prevalence of MSDs. For the quality of life of workers and national productivity, we should understand the occupational hazards and their preventive approach in this working sector. Indeed, there is very little research on the occurrence of WRMSDs related to psychosocial, work productivity, and workability among the Myanmar sewing machine operators. This study aims to find the associations among working ability, productivity status, psychosocial factors, and percentage of work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders of sewing machine operators in the garment factory.

Methodology – This is a cross-sectional study that contains personal factors questionnaire, standard questionnaires, and data is collected by self-administered type which was conducted from September to October 2021. 370 Participants were selected from Shwepaukkan Industrial Zone, Myanmar. A multistage sampling method was used and eligible participants were invited to this study. University Ethical Approved was also obtained.

Result - The study enrolled 370 sewing operators who are more than 40 years of age. The prevalence of WRMSD in at least one part of the body was reported around 90 percent of the study population. The study found a significant association between WRMSD and age, education. As regards psychosocial risk, and most of the reported cases are low psychological job demand, high job control, and high social support. In addition, sewing operators responded that their job has high physical demand. There is no significant reported absenteeism and 35% presenteeism rate within one week. The moderate workability rate is about 66.5 % followed by poor workability with 18.4%. The logistic regression model showed that gender (AOR=0.130; 95%CI 0.020-0.969), job stress (AOR=8.257; 95%CI 1.465-46.550), physical demand (AOR=4.702; 95%CI 1.172-18.862) and productivity (AOR=5.893; 95%CI 1.393-24.920) are a significant predictor of WRMSD. This findings can be helped to guide the development of the working situations of sewing operators in a garment factory and also help in developing regulations for the well-being of workers in occupational health sectors