# Exposure Time to Work-Related Hazards and Factors Affecting Musculoskeletal Pain in Nurses
## 3 Results
### Factors Affecting Musculoskeletal Pains  
#### 3.3.1 Factors Affecting Back Pain  
Table 6 provides back pain prevalence rates for different variable levels. The overall prevalence of back pain was 19.0%. The back pain prevalence rate was higher for nurses with over 6 years of work experience, those working in hospitals, and those exposed to more than 4 h of vibration or poor posture. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Factor**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Hazard**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**No Pain**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Upper Limb Pain**} & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\)**-Value**} \\ \cline{3-4} \cline{6-7}  & & **Mean** & & **SD** & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Physical hazard} & Vibration & 0.911 & 0.571 & 1.035 & 0.932 & 0.082 \\  & Noise & 0.845 & 0.389 & 1.010 & 0.837 & 0.004 * \\  & High temperature & 0.817 & 0.273 & 0.893 & 0.580 & 0.058 \\  & Low temperature & 0.804 & 0.197 & 0.870 & 0.526 & 0.047 * \\  & Fumes/dust & 0.794 & 0.084 & 0.816 & 0.111 & 0.017 * \\  & Vapor & 0.807 & 0.208 & 0.809 & 0.084 & 0.919 \\ Biological hazard & Chemical contact & 0.892 & 0.585 & 0.955 & 0.826 & 0.355 \\  & Tobacco smoke & 0.810 & 0.301 & 0.816 & 0.111 & 0.800 \\  & Infection & 1.162 & 1.127 & 1.391 & 1.597 & 0.080 \\  & Awkward posture & 1.893 & 1.758 & 2.805 & 2.255 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & Patient lifting & 1.181 & 0.890 & 1.759 & 1.534 & \textless{}0.001 * \\ Ergonomic hazard & Load handling & 0.963 & 0.661 & 1.506 & 1.375 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & Standing posture & 4.210 & 1.872 & 4.433 & 1.963 & 0.249 \\  & Repetitive motion & 2.770 & 2.252 & 3.649 & 2.374 & \textless{}0.001 * \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* * significant at 0.05, SD = standard deviation.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Results of mean comparison test for exposure times of hazards by upper limb pain. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Factor**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Hazard**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**No Pain**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Upper Limb Pain**} & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\)**-Value**} \\ \cline{3-4} \cline{6-7}  & & **Mean** & & **SD** & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Physical hazard} & Vibration & 0.915 & 0.649 & 1.105 & 0.894 & 0.028 * \\  & Noise & 0.840 & 0.338 & 1.156 & 1.114 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & High temperature & 0.818 & 0.260 & 0.943 & 0.747 & 0.010 * \\  & Low temperature & 0.812 & 0.246 & 0.879 & 0.590 & 0.101 \\  & Fumes/dust & 0.795 & 0.083 & 0.826 & 0.130 & 0.008 * \\  & Vapor & 0.807 & 0.193 & 0.813 & 0.089 & 0.767 \\ Biological hazard & Chemical contact & 0.891 & 0.615 & 1.008 & 0.867 & 0.153 \\  & Tobacco smoke & 0.811 & 0.282 & 0.813 & 0.089 & 0.953 \\  & Infection & 1.145 & 1.120 & 1.637 & 1.854 & 0.002 * \\  & Awkward posture & 1.923 & 1.750 & 3.325 & 2.465 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & Patient lifting/carrying & 1.225 & 0.946 & 1.969 & 1.720 & \textless{}0.001 * \\ Ergonomic hazard & Heavy load handling & 1.048 & 0.823 & 1.495 & 1.412 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & Standing posture & 4.112 & 1.881 & 5.071 & 1.800 & \textless{}0.001 * \\  & Repetitive motion & 2.804 & 2.241 & 4.133 & 2.398 & \textless{}0.001 * \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* * significant at 0.05, SD = standard deviation.  
\end{table} 
Table 5: Results of mean comparison test for exposure times of hazards by lower limb pain. Table 6 presents the results of a binary logistic regression analysis with back pain as the dependent variable. The analysis considered various independent variables, including age, occupation, work experience, working hours per week, establishment type, shift system, exposure levels to physical hazards (vibration, noise, high temperature, low temperature), exposure levels to biochemical hazards (dust and fumes, vapor, skin contact with chemicals, cigarette smoke, infection), and exposure levels to ergonomic hazards (awkward posture, handling heavy objects, patient lifting/carrying, standing posture, sitting posture, repetitive motion).