Journal of Preventive Medicine

Introduction: Patient Lifting and handling is one of the major risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of musculoskeletal disorders related to patient handling in nursing personnel using DINO index.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 nurses working in hospitals of Isfahan in 2015. Data were collected by Nordic questioners and the MAPO and DINO index checklists. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to analyze the data.

Results: The 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was 87.6%. The average of DINO index was 9.73 (SD=1.8), which indicates that the way in which the pationts are being handeled might not be safest. The results showed that the musculoskeletal disorders prevalence in nursing staff was significantly associated with final scoring of MAPO and DINO indexes (P<0.001).

Conclusion: According to the findings, DINO and MAPO    methods are suitable instruments for estimating the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in patient handling by nursing staff. Also, these methods can be used in the evaluation of patient transfer educational programs and assessment of nurses techniques used in patient handling.