Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Taxi Industry Workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Ijaz Ahmad^1,2, Mansour A. Balkhyour¹, Tarek M. Abokhashabah³, Iqbal M. Ismail² and Mohammad Rehan²

¹Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

²Centre of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES), King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

³Vice Presidency of Projects, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 80216, Saudi Arabia.

Corresponding Author E-mail: mrehan@kau.edu.sa

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2483

ABSTRACT: Professional driving is associated with high rates of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (OMSDs). The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of OMSDs among drivers and office workers of taxi industry in Jeddah city. A detailed custom-made questionnaire was used that included socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of subjects together with OMSDs prevalence rates. In this research, 173 subjects participated of which 70.5% were drivers and 29.5% were office workers. Standard Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) was used to assess 1-year and 1-week prevalence rates of OMSDs in nine body regions. 1-year and 1-week reported prevalence rates of OMSDs among taxi drivers were 85.3 and 51.6%, while among office workers were 52.9 and 31.4%, respectively. The highest self-reported prevalence rates of OMSDs for taxi drivers were found for the lower back (60.7%) and lowest rates for the elbow (14.8%). Whereas, among office workers, the highest prevalence rates were found for the lower back and knee (29.4%) and lowest rates for feet/ankle (2.0%). The chi-square test found significant correlation between being immigrant (p=0.038), hours of driving per day (p=0.002), number of working days per week (p=0.000) with 1-year prevalence of OMSDs, While job experience (p=0.006), hours of driving per day (p=0.004) and break during work (p=0.029) showed significant correlation with perceived 1-week prevalence of OMSDs among taxi drivers in Jeddah.

KEYWORDS: Occupational musculoskeletal disorders; health risk assessment; taxi industry; health and safety; occupational health; ergonomics

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