Prevalence and risk factors for foot and ankle musculoskeletal disorders experienced by nurses

Table 4 Multivariable analysis of selected risk factors for activity-limiting foot/ankle MSDs among hospital-based nurses in Brisbane, Australia (n = 240)

Risk factor	n	%	OR	CI (95%)	Sig.
Nurse characteristics
Age (years)
<30	66	27.5	Referent		0.79
30-39	90	37.5	0.71	(0.25, 2.04)	0.53
40-49	62	25.8	0.52	(0.14, 1.86)	0.31
50+	22	9.2	0.76	(0.18, 3.27)	0.71
BMI ¹ (kg/m ² )
Underweight/normal	128	53.3	Referent		0.01^*
Overweight	70	29.2	1.46	(0.52, 4.09)	0.47
Obese/morbidly obese	42	17.5	4.74	(1.70, 13.23)	<0.001^*
SF-36 PCS ²
Quartile 4 (>55.96)	63	26.3	Referent		0.02^*
Quartile 3 (51.96-55.95)	60	25.0	1.21	(0.28, 5.2)	0.80
Quartile 2 (48–51.95)	60	25.0	2.76	(0.76, 9.98)	0.12
Quartile 1 (0–47.99)	57	23.8	6.05	(1.64, 22.38)	0.01^*
Foot condition - Total
None	82	34.2	Referent		0.01^*
One	87	36.3	2.36	(0.72, 7.77)	0.16
Two or more	71	29.6	5.59	(1.75, 17.81)	<0.001^*
Work characteristics
Location
Ward/Pool³/TASU⁴/Other⁵	112	46.7	Referent		0.08
Emergency	31	12.9	0.76	(0.19, 3.12)	0.70
Intensive care	35	14.6	3.87	(1.23, 12.12)	0.02^*
Theatre/Outpatients/Gastro⁶/DPC⁷	62	25.8	2.05	(0.71, 5.95)	0.18
Average hours worked per week
<36	111	46.3	Referent
> = 36	129	53.8	2.28	(0.91, 5.71)	0.08

¹Body mass index categories (WHO guidelines: underweight/normal (<24.99), overweight (25–29.99), obese (>30.00).
²SF36 (Acute Version) Physical Component Summary Scale.
³Nursing Pool – Nurses allocated to different work areas each shift to cover workload demands.
⁴Theatre Admission Supply Unit.
⁵Other – includes administration, Central Sterilising.
⁶Gastroenterology outpatients.
⁷Day procedures centre.
^*statistically significant.

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