Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries are known as a global occupational challenge. These injuries are more are concentrated in the upper limb. There are several methods to assess this kind of disorders, each of which have different efficiencies for various jobs based on their strengths and weaknesses. This study aimed to assess the validity of LUBA method in order to evaluate risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in a printing industry in Qom province, 2014.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all operational workers (n=94) were investigated in 2014. Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was used to collect data on musculoskeletal disorders. We also used LUBA method to analyze postures in four different parts of the body (neck, shoulder, elbow, and wrist). The obtained data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal Wallis, and Kappa agreement tests.

Results: Lumbar region of back with 35.1% prevalence had the most problems. The results of LUBA method showed that most postures were located at the second corrective action level, and need further studies. Agreement between assessment of shoulder posture and its disorders was significant (p<0.05), but, agreement for other parts of the body was not significant (p>0.05). 

Conclusion: According to the results of this study on reliability and predictive validity of the LUBA method in printing industry, it can be concluded that this method is not a reliable method for posture assessment; however, further and more comprehensive studies are recommended.