Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37016332›Full record

SynthesisBMC musculoskeletal disorders2023

Global prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapists: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Philippe Gorce, Julien Jacquier-Bret

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07375823 (Effects of Electrical Muscle Stimulation Applied Concurrently With Active Movement and Exercise Therapy in Cervical Radiculopathy), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
14.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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.

NCT07375823 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Effects of Electrical Muscle Stimulation Applied Concurrently With Active Movement and Exercise Therapy in Cervical Radiculopathy: A Randomized Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorEuropean University of LefkeRan2025 to 2026Enrolled50ConditionsCervical Radiculopathy, Cervical Radicular Pain, Neck Pain, NumbnessArmsExercise Therapy, Superimposition of electrical muscle stimulation on active movement
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

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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 at 1 institution in 1 country.

Philippe GorceInternational Institute of Biomechanics and Occupational Ergonomics, Toulon, France.
Julien Jacquier-BretInternational Institute of Biomechanics and Occupational Ergonomics, Toulon, France. jacquier@univ-tln.fr.
Université de Toulon · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMusculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are one of the most important problems among physiotherapists worldwide. However, there is no meta-analysis of the MSD prevalence in all body areas among physiotherapists.

objectivesThe purpose was to investigate and estimate the worldwide prevalence of MSD among physiotherapists using a systematic review-, meta-analysis and meta-regression.

methodsThe systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression were performed in 2022 using the PRISMA guidelines. DATA SOURCES: The search was performed on PubMed/Medline, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Medeley and Science.gov databases. STUDY APPRAISAL: The quality appraisal of the included articles was assessed using the critical appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies AXIS.

resultsA total of 722 articles were found. After screening and comparison with the inclusion criteria, 26 studies were retained. Based on the random-effects model, the worldwide MSD prevalence in neck, upper back, mid back, lower back, shoulders, elbows, wrists/hands, thumb, hips/thighs, knees/legs, and ankles/feet was 26.4% (CI 95%: 21.0-31.9%), 17.7% (CI 95%: 13.2-22.2%), 14.9% (CI 95%: 7.7-22.1%), 40.1% (CI 95%: 32.2-48.0%), 20.8% (CI 95%: 16.5-25.1), 7.0% (CI 95%: 5.2-8.9), 18.1% (CI 95%: 14.7-21.5%), 35.4% (CI 95%: 23.0-47.8), 7.0% (CI 95%: 5.2-8.8), 13.0% (CI 95%: 10.3-15.8), and 5% (CI 95%: 4.0-6.9) respectively. The neck and shoulder prevalence of four continents were close to the world prevalence. No effect of continent was found on MSD prevalence. The heterogeneity of the results obtained in the meta-analysis and meta-regression was discussed.

conclusionsBased on the random effects model, the results of the worldwide meta-analysis showed that lower back pain, thumb, neck and shoulder were the area most at risk for MSD and were therefore those to be monitored as a priority. Recommendations were proposed for future reviews and meta-analyses.

Indexed as

Musculoskeletal DiseasesOccupational DiseasesPhysical TherapistsCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPrevalenceBody areaMeta-analysisMeta-regressionMusculoskeletal disordersPhysiotherapistsPrevalenceSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID37016332
PMCPMC10071744
OpenAlexW4362555196

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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 OpenQuestion graph.