Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41152876›Full record

ArticleBMC nursing2025

Continental effect on work-related musculoskeletal disorders prevalence among nurses: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Philippe Gorce, Julien Jacquier-Bret

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC nursing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Philippe GorceInternational Institute of Biomechanics and Occupational Ergonomics, Avenue du Docteur Armanet, Hyères, 83414, France.
Julien Jacquier-BretInternational Institute of Biomechanics and Occupational Ergonomics, Avenue du Docteur Armanet, Hyères, 83414, France. jacquier@univ-tln.fr.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWork-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are one of the most significant problems among nurses worldwide. No meta-analysis of overall and body-area prevalence of WMSDs has been conducted among nurses from one continent to another.

aimThe aim of this meta-analysis and meta-regression was therefore to assess in depth the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses by continent.

methodsThe systematic review was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Five databases, i.e. ScienceDirect, PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, Science.gov and Mendeley, were scanned to identify relevant studies. Study selection, critical appraisal and data extraction were carried out independently by the two authors. Cochran's Q test and the I

resultsAmong the 15,751 unique items identified, 71 studies published between 2002 and 2024 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were included in the analysis, totaling 33,809 nurses. Lower back was the most exposed area (58.0%; CI 95%: 54.2%-61.8%). Europe ranked first (61.3%), followed by America (59.3%), Asia (58.4%) and Africa (58.0%). Neck (44.9%; CI 95%: 40.1%-49.8%) and shoulder (40.9%; CI 95%: 54.2%-61.8%) were also highly affected. Europe was the continent most affected for neck, upper back, lower back and wrist, America the most for shoulderwhile Asia ranked first for lower limb body areas. Africa was the continent least exposed to WMSDs. Eight significant correlations were found between: nurses' age and shoulder prevalence in Africa, year of publication and neck prevalence in Asia. The following six were for Europe: nurses' age and experience on wrist prevalence, and year of publication on shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip prevalence.

conclusionsThe meta-analysis showed the most exposed areas and meta-regression between three demographic parameters, the prevalence of WMSD by body area per continent. The development of ergonomic programs, organizational work strategies and assistive devices must be pursued to prevent WMSDs in nurses, in order to reduce their effects and improve the nurses' quality of life at work. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

Indexed as

Body areaContinentMeta-analysisMeta-regressionMusculoskeletal disordersNursePrevalenceSystematic reviewWorldwide

Identifiers

PMID41152876
PMCPMC12570540

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.