Examination of occupational and physical therapists' exposure to physical risk factors in outpatient rehabilitation settings using the workplace ergonomics risk assessment and pain scale.
Musaed Z Alnaser, Mohammed Sh Nadar, Fatma Madouh
93% of 98 therapists scored in the medium-risk band on a workplace ergonomics tool, and 91% reported pain after a single session.
Pediatric therapists had the highest exposure. No significant link was found between the measured risk factors and pain levels.
Key findings
193% of participants (n = 91) scored in the medium-risk band (28-44) on the WERA scale of 18-54, with a mean score of 37.12.
291% of participants (n = 89) reported pain after their therapy session, and 65% (n = 64) rated it moderate to severe (mean 4.33 on a 0-10 scale). The lower back was the most painful region (n = 49, 50%).
3Pediatric therapists had a significantly higher mean WERA exposure score (38.33) than orthopedic (35.00) or neurology (37.36) therapists, with the difference between pediatric and orthopedic settings reaching significance (adjusted p = .026).
Still to come
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample of 98 was below the a priori target of 159, so the study was underpowered for the medium effect it was designed to detect. All participants worked in three public hospitals in one Kuwaiti healthcare system, so the findings may not transfer to private, rural, or non-Arab settings. The study did not compare OTs and PTs against each other, so you cannot tell whether one profession carries more risk than the other. The time of day and which day of the week the observation fell on were not controlled, so cumulative fatigue across a shift or a week was not captured. Patient weight, diagnosis severity, psychosocial factors, and organizational policies were not measured, all of which could influence how much force or repetition a therapist actually uses. The WERA tool is designed for static and repetitive tasks and relies on the observer's judgment, so scores may vary between raters. Neither the WERA nor the pain scale was pilot-tested in this specific population before the study began.
Declared interests
The authors declared no funding and no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 93% medium-risk score alongside the 91% pain rate as proof that the measured postures and repetitions cause the pain. The study found no significant correlation between WERA scores and pain ratings (p = .533), and a single 30-minute observation of one session cannot establish that the observed movements are what produces the discomfort.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →