ArticleInjury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention2004
Use of mechanical patient lifts decreased musculoskeletal symptoms and injuries among health care workers.
Article in Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 157 citations in OpenAlex.
- Do Technical Aids for Patient Handling Prevent Musculoskeletal Complaints in Health Care Workers?-A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Outcomes of safe patient handling and mobilization programs: A meta-analysis.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2017Pooled it
- Improving transfer task practices used with air travelers with mobility impairments: a systematic literature review.Journal of public health policy · 2014Pooled it
- Systematic review of the role of occupational health and safety interventions in the prevention of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms, signs, disorders, injuries, claims and lost time.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2010Pooled it
- Use of patient- handling devices and coworker assistance in long-term care settings: A cross-sectional study.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2025Article
- The Effect of Interventions on Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries Related to Nurses Work: Systematic Review.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Association between work content and musculoskeletal disorders among home caregivers: a cross-section study.Industrial health · 2022Article
- Physical and psychological workloads and their association with occupational fatigue among hospital service personnel.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Article
- Workers' compensation claim counts and rates by injury event/exposure among state-insured private employers in Ohio, 2007-2017.Journal of safety research · 2021Article
- Ergonomic Stressors Among Pregnant Healthcare Workers: Impact on pregnancy outcomes and recommended safety practices.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2021Review
- The association between union membership and perceptions of safety climate among US adult workers.Safety science · 2021Article
- The effectiveness of ergonomic interventions in material handling operations.Applied ergonomics · 2020Article
- Reducing lumbar spine flexion using real-time biofeedback during patient handling tasks.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2020Article
- Priority approaches of occupational safety and health activities for preventing low back pain among caregivers.Journal of occupational health · 2019Article
- Factors associated with lift equipment use during patient lifts and transfers by hospital nurses and nursing care assistants: A prospective observational cohort study.International journal of nursing studies · 2019Observational
- Knee pain in nursing home workers after implementation of a safe resident handling program.American journal of industrial medicine · 2018Article
- Predictors of low back pain in nursing home workers after implementation of a safe resident handling programme.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2017Article
- Injury rates before and after the implementation of a safe resident handling program in the long-term care sector.Safety science · 2017Article
- Using Shoulder Straps Decreases Heart Rate Variability and Salivary Cortisol Concentration in Swedish Ambulance Personnel.Safety and health at work · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of mechanical patient lifts in reducing musculoskeletal symptoms, injuries, lost workday injuries, and workers' compensation costs in workers at a community hospital.
designPre-post intervention study.
settingThree nursing units of a small community hospital. Patients or SUBJECTS: Nursing personnel.
interventionsMechanical patient lifts were made available and nursing staff trained in their use between August 2000 and January 2001.
main outcome measuresWorkers completed symptom surveys at baseline and six months after lift training. Pre-intervention and post-intervention rates of injuries and lost workday injuries using Occupational Safety and Health Administration logs of the three study units, from the period July 1999 through March 2003 were analyzed. Injuries potentially related to lifting patients were included in the analyses. Using workers' compensation data from the same time period, the compensation paid ($ per full time equivalent [FTE]) due to injuries during the pre-intervention and post-intervention period was calculated.
resultsSixty one staff members were surveyed pre-intervention; 36 (59%) completed follow up surveys. Statistically significant improvements in musculoskeletal comfort (p<0.05) were reported for all body parts, including shoulders, lower back, and knees. Injury rates decreased post-intervention, with a relative risk (RR) of 0.37 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16 to 0.88); decreased injury rates persisted after adjustment for temporal trends in injury rates on non-intervention units of the study hospital (RR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.26). Adjusted lost day injury rates also decreased (RR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.10 to 1.16). Annual workers' compensation costs averaged $484 per FTE pre-intervention and $151 per FTE post-intervention.
conclusionReductions were observed in injury rates, lost workday injury rates, workers' compensation costs, and musculoskeletal symptoms after deployment of mechanical patient lifts. Strengths of this study include the community hospital setting and the inclusion of a variety of different outcomes. Limitations include the pre-post study design and the small sample size.
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