Work-related musculoskeletal complaints in sonologists

The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints of the hand and wrist, and the neck and back, in physicians who operate sonography equipment was evaluate d and associations between these complaints and various work-related and pe rsonal variables were studied. A questionnaire survey was distributed among physician sonographers (sonologists) in Italy. The relationship between wo rk habits and musculoskeletal complaints was analyzed by logistic regressio n models adjusted for gender, age, and duration of work with ultrasound. A total of 2041 physician sonographers completed the questionnaire. It was fo und that a large proportion of the subjects regularly had work-related comp laints, such as neck and back pain (NBP) (18.5%) or hand and wrist cumulati ve trauma disorder (HWD) (5.3%). Roughly 80% of the sonographers were curre ntly affected, or had been affected in the past, by one or more work-relate d symptoms. Various work-related factors appeared to be related to musculos keletal syndromes. The average time spent for each examination was related both to NBP and HWD. Discomfort for transducer design was the best predicto r of HWD, whereas a comfortable chair and correct position of the body prot ected from the onset of NBP. These results support the role of ergonomic fa ctors in the pathogenesis of both NBP and HWD in sonographers.