Postural Analysis and its Association with Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Physiotherapy Students

Need of the Study– The study will focus on the
association between postural analysis and work-related musculoskeletal
disorders among physiotherapy students.

Most of the studies related to this topic are done on occupational therapy students (Morabito, et. al. (2021), nursing students (Moodley, et. al. 2020), (Elsayed, et. al. 2019; Antochevis-de-Oliveir, et. al.,2017) and laboratory students (Penkala, et al. (2018). Similar study was conducted by [Desai, et. al. (2020)] on physiotherapy students but it has only addressed the work-related musculoskeletal problems lasting for 12 months and not listed acute problems which lasted within 7 days. Further information regarding problems requiring health professional assistance was not addressed. Another gap identified was lack of association shown between the work posture and occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorder among undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy students. Since there is lots of difference in clinical & practical training hours of undergraduate & postgraduate students. Thus, identifying the relationship between work posture and WMSDs early in their careers can help in preventing long-term health issues.

Physiotherapy students are future healthcare providers who will educate and treat patients with musculoskeletal issues. Understanding the impact of ergonomics on their own health will make them better educators and practitioners.

|Aim– To determine association between postural analysis and work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapy students.

 Objectives-

·       To analyze posture of physiotherapy undergraduate & postgraduate students

·       To identify occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among undergraduate & postgraduate physiotherapy students.

 Hypothesis

 **Null hypothesis:**There will be no significant association between postural analysis and work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapy students.

 Alternative hypothesis**:** There will be substantial association between postural analysis and work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapy students.