- Title
- An investigation of the prevalence, correlates and potential intervention strategies for musculoskeletal disorders among school teachers in Botswana
- Creator
- Erick, Patience N.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) represent a common occupational problem for working populations throughout the world. Despite their large demographic and associated potential for occupational health problems, few epidemiological studies have investigated MSD among teachers. Hence the overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of MSD among school teachers in Botswana. To address this aim the thesis presents five papers. Paper 1 describes a systematic review of previous research investigating prevalence and risk factors of MSD among teaching staff. Paper 2 describes a critical review of previous literature which investigated risk and protective factors of MSD among school teachers. These reviews were aimed at gaining insight of MSD among school teachers which was eventually used to inform some parts of the thesis. Paper 3 and Paper 4 describe a study of MSD among school teachers in Botswana. Using a cross-sectional study with anonymous self-administered questionnaire, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for MSD among school teachers in Botswana. The study also aimed to investigate the level of low back disability and associated risk factors. The study further investigated the impact of MSD among school teachers in Botswana. Paper 5 describes the development of an ergonomic training manual to help reduce the prevalence, progression and impacts of MSD among teachers. The study was aimed at determining the effectiveness of the training manual and to highlight any areas for improvement. Paper 6 summaries the findings of the study. The concluding chapter of this thesis reviews and brings together the main findings of these six papers and makes recommendations for future research. The results of this thesis suggest that MSD is reasonably common among school teachers in Botswana, particularly MSD of the back, shoulder and neck. The study also suggests that MSD is complex and multifactorial in nature, and therefore, no single, specific intervention strategy alone would be entirely effective at reducing these disorders among teachers. The development of an ergonomic training manual for teachers as developed in the current study represents a positive step forward in the prevention and management of these disorders especially in developing countries. The results of this study also offer a significant contribution to the existing knowledge of MSD in the teaching profession.
- Subject
- teachers; low back pain; musculoskeletal disorders; neck pain; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1317959
- Identifier
- uon:23545
- Rights
- Copyright 2015 Patience N. Erick
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 229 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |