Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Effects on Work Performance of Fitness Professionals in Portugal: Cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the main factors that caused, reactivated and/or aggravated musculoskeletal disorders (MED) in fitness professionals' (FP) perception, the effects of MED on FP performance and recovery, characterise MED, compare groups and correlate the nMED/FP with several variables. 466 FP answered the VidaProFit survey online. Descriptive statistics, the T-test, and Pearson's correlation were used. 46.2% of the FP reported MED (mean: 1.11±1.61 nMED/FP). Most reported MED were in “joint/ligaments”, in the “knee”, from “overuse”, “identified by a specialist” and “aggravated” by work. Most FP keep working during MED recovery and consider that this fact prolongs the recovery. Around half of the MED were “recurrent”, “caused” and/or “reactivated” by work. Almost half of the FP resorted to sick leave, considering “insufficient recovery time” as the main factor for MED, and feel pain/discomfort during work. “Females” and “working as FP” were the groups with significantly higher mean of nMED/FP. Age, professional experience, number of group fitness classes/week, body&mind group fitness classes/week, maximal group fitness classes/day, paid and unpaid working hours/week were correlated with nMED/FP. Results support the need to create programs or guidelines targeted to MED prevention to ensure the continuity of FPs in the fitness sector.