Iran Occupational Health

Background and aims: Health care sector has job-related health problems and hazards. Patient handling is a main risk factor of musculoskeletal disorders among Health Care Workers (HCW). The present study aimed to ergonomic evaluation of client transfer between bed and stretcher through common way and using mechanical patient transfer aid device.

Methods: In this study, parameters of comfort, perceived physical exertion and safety of a patient handling assistive device was measured from users’ and clients’ viewpoints. Thirty seven health care workers of a hospital in Shiraz city who had experience in patient transfer participated in the study. The data were collected using a five point likert scale (1= worse condition and 5= better condition), likert-type scale for rating (Borg scale), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) for user’s posture analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using Wilcoxon, Fischer and Paired t-test analyses.

Results: The mean (SD) of users’ comfort while using the aid device was 4.48 (0.50), and the means (SD) of clients’ comfort and safety regarding mechanical transfer method were 4.21 (0.47) and 4.40 (0.49), respectively. The results revealed a significant reduction in the users’ rating of perceived exertion while doing the job by the device as compared to manual operation (P<0.001). The results of posture analysis showed that for approximately 90% of the users in manual transfer the REBA score was 4 (very high risk level) whereas REBA score for more than 80% of the users in mechanical handling was 2 indicating medium risk level.

Conclusion: According to the findings, using mechanical assistive device increased the users’ and the clients’ comfort, reduced the users’ physical exertion, and improved their working postures. It is believed that using mechanical patient handling aid device may reduce MSDs risk among HCWs.