Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya

Jotham Miyawa Munala

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

| Peer-Reviewed

Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya

Jotham Miyawa Munala

Published in American Journal of Health Research (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Received: 21 January 2023 Accepted: 7 February 2023 Published: 16 February 2023

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are a devastating concern to the working population globally. WRMSD can result in disability, especially in cases where diagnosis and treatment are delayed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportions of flower farm workers exhibiting Fear Avoidance of work beliefs among workers reporting work-related musculoskeletal disorders at a farm in Kenya. The secondary objective was to determine the relationship between Fear Avoidance Beliefs over the previous 12 months and socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A sample of 270 participants was drawn from 897 farm workers, of which 184 presented with WRMSD as assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Inferential statistics were analyzed using the Pearson's chi-squared test (X²) test and based on an alpha level of p< 0.05. Descriptive statistics were presented using frequencies and percentages. Respondents who reported Decreased Risk of persistent Problems were 67 (36.4%), Increased Risk of Reporting No Improvement were 50 (27.2%), Decreased Risk for Not Returning To work were 34 (18.5%) while those who reported Increased Risk of Not Returning to Work were 33 (17.9%). There was no correlation between exhibiting Fear Avoidance and socio-demographic characteristics. Flower farm workers in Kenya were found to exhibit Fear avoidance of work beliefs.

Published in	American Journal of Health Research (Volume 11, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13
Page(s)	18-22
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Fear-Avoidance of Work, Farm Workers

References

[1]	Rikken M. The global competitiveness of the Kenyan flower industry. In-Fifth Video Conference on the Global Competitiveness of the Flower Industry in Eastern Africa 2011 Dec 14.
[2]	Benos, L., et al. A Review on Ergonomics in Agriculture. Part I: Manual Operations. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 2020, doi: 10.3390/app10061905.
[3]	Singh S, Arora R. Ergonomic intervention for preventing musculoskeletal disorders among farm women. Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 2010 Dec 1; 1 (2): 61-71.
[4]	Wang J, Cui Y, He L, Xu X, Yuan Z, Jin X, Li Z. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders and risk factors among Chinese medical staff of obstetrics and gynecology. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2017 Jun; 14 (6): 562.
[5]	Shafti A, Lazpita BU, Elhage O, Wurdemann HA, Althoefer K. Analysis of comfort and ergonomics for clinical work environments. In2016 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) 2016 Aug 16 (pp. 1894-1897). IEEE.
[6]	Vlaeyen JW, Linton SJ. Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art. Pain. 2000 Apr 1; 85 (3): 317-32.
[7]	Leeuw M, Goossens ME, Linton SJ, Crombez G, Boersma K, Vlaeyen JW. The fear-avoidance model of musculoskeletal pain: current state of scientific evidence. Journal of behavioral medicine. 2007 Feb; 30 (1): 77-94.
[8]	Lethem J, Slade PD, Troup JD, Bentley G. Outline of a fear-avoidance model of exaggerated pain perception—I. Behaviour research and therapy. 1983 Jan 1; 21 (4): 401-8.
[9]	Gatchel RJ, Neblett R, Kishino N, Ray CT. Fear-avoidance beliefs and chronic pain. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2016 Feb; 46 (2): 38-43.
[10]	Myhre K, Røe C, Marchand GH, Keller A, Bautz-Holter E, Leivseth G, Sandvik L, Lau B. Fear–avoidance beliefs associated with perceived psychological and social factors at work among patients with neck and back pain: a cross-sectional multicentre study. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. 2013 Dec; 14 (1): 1-1.
[11]	Wilson AC, Lewandowski AS, Palermo TM. Fear-avoidance beliefs and parental responses to pain in adolescents with chronic pain. Pain Research and Management. 2011 Oct; 16 (3): 178-82.
[12]	Huis't Veld RM, Vollenbroek-Hutten MM, Groothuis-Oudshoorn KC, Hermens HJ. The role of the fear-avoidance model in female workers with neck-shoulder pain related to computer work. The Clinical journal of pain. 2007 Jan 1; 23 (1): 28-34.
[13]	Simon CB, Stryker SE, George SZ. Comparison of work-related fear-avoidance beliefs across different anatomical locations with musculoskeletal pain. Journal of Pain Research. 2011 Sep 1: 253-62.
[14]	Cochran WG, William G. Sampling techniques. new york: John wiley& sons.
[15]	Crawford JO. The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Occupational medicine. 2007 Jun 1; 57 (4): 300-1.
[16]	Liebenson C. Improving Activity Tolerance in Pain Patients: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Reactivation. Topics in clinical chiropractic. 2000 Jan 1; 7 (4): 6-14.
[17]	Nunes IL, Bush PM. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders assessment and prevention. Ergonomics-A Systems Approach. 2012 Apr 25: 1-30.
[18]	Ekpenyong CE, Inyang UC. Associations between worker characteristics, workplace factors, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders: a cross-sectional study of male construction workers in Nigeria. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. 2014 Jan 1; 20 (3): 447-62.
[19]	Da Costa BR, Vieira ER. Risk factors for work‐related musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review of recent longitudinal studies. American journal of industrial medicine. 2010 Mar; 53 (3): 285-323.
[20]	Ganiyu SO, Olabode JA, Stanley MM, Muhammad I. Patterns of occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and its correlation with ergonomic hazards among health care professionals. Nigerian Journal of Experimental and Clinical Biosciences. 2015 Jan 1; 3 (1): 18.
[21]	McLean CP, Hope DA. Subjective anxiety and behavioral avoidance: Gender, gender role, and perceived confirmability of self-report. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2010 Jun 1; 24 (5): 494-502.
[22]	Vambheim SM, Øien RA. Sex differences in fear of pain: Item-level analysis of the Fear of Pain Questionnaire III. Journal of pain research. 2017; 10: 825.
[23]	Zoer I, Frings-Dresen MH, Sluiter JK. Are musculoskeletal complaints, related work impairment and desirable adjustments in work age-specific? International archives of occupational and environmental health. 2014 Aug; 87 (6): 647-54.
[24]	Larsson C, Ekvall Hansson E, Sundquist K, Jakobsson U. Impact of pain characteristics and fear-avoidance beliefs on physical activity levels among older adults with chronic pain: a population-based, longitudinal study. BMC geriatrics. 2016 Dec; 16 (1): 1-8.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. (2023). Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. American Journal of Health Research, 11(1), 18-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. Am. J. Health Res. 2023, 11(1), 18-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. Am J Health Res. 2023;11(1):18-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13,
  author = {Jotham Miyawa Munala},
  title = {Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya},
  journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {18-22},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  abstract = {Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are a devastating concern to the working population globally. WRMSD can result in disability, especially in cases where diagnosis and treatment are delayed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportions of flower farm workers exhibiting Fear Avoidance of work beliefs among workers reporting work-related musculoskeletal disorders at a farm in Kenya. The secondary objective was to determine the relationship between Fear Avoidance Beliefs over the previous 12 months and socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A sample of 270 participants was drawn from 897 farm workers, of which 184 presented with WRMSD as assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Inferential statistics were analyzed using the Pearson's chi-squared test (X2) test and based on an alpha level of p< 0.05. Descriptive statistics were presented using frequencies and percentages. Respondents who reported Decreased Risk of persistent Problems were 67 (36.4%), Increased Risk of Reporting No Improvement were 50 (27.2%), Decreased Risk for Not Returning To work were 34 (18.5%) while those who reported Increased Risk of Not Returning to Work were 33 (17.9%). There was no correlation between exhibiting Fear Avoidance and socio-demographic characteristics. Flower farm workers in Kenya were found to exhibit Fear avoidance of work beliefs.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY - JOUR
T1 - Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya
AU - Jotham Miyawa Munala
Y1 - 2023/02/16
PY - 2023
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13
DO - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13
T2 - American Journal of Health Research
JF - American Journal of Health Research
JO - American Journal of Health Research
SP - 18
EP - 22
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-8796
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13
AB - Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are a devastating concern to the working population globally. WRMSD can result in disability, especially in cases where diagnosis and treatment are delayed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportions of flower farm workers exhibiting Fear Avoidance of work beliefs among workers reporting work-related musculoskeletal disorders at a farm in Kenya. The secondary objective was to determine the relationship between Fear Avoidance Beliefs over the previous 12 months and socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A sample of 270 participants was drawn from 897 farm workers, of which 184 presented with WRMSD as assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Inferential statistics were analyzed using the Pearson's chi-squared test (X2) test and based on an alpha level of p< 0.05. Descriptive statistics were presented using frequencies and percentages. Respondents who reported Decreased Risk of persistent Problems were 67 (36.4%), Increased Risk of Reporting No Improvement were 50 (27.2%), Decreased Risk for Not Returning To work were 34 (18.5%) while those who reported Increased Risk of Not Returning to Work were 33 (17.9%). There was no correlation between exhibiting Fear Avoidance and socio-demographic characteristics. Flower farm workers in Kenya were found to exhibit Fear avoidance of work beliefs.
VL - 11
IS - 1
ER -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Jotham Miyawa Munala

Physiotherapy Department, Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi, Kenya

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. (2023). Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. American Journal of Health Research, 11(1), 18-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. Am. J. Health Res. 2023, 11(1), 18-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Jotham Miyawa Munala. Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya. Am J Health Res. 2023;11(1):18-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13,
  author = {Jotham Miyawa Munala},
  title = {Fear Avoidance of Work Beliefs Amongst Workers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Kenya},
  journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {18-22},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20231101.13},
  abstract = {Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are a devastating concern to the working population globally. WRMSD can result in disability, especially in cases where diagnosis and treatment are delayed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportions of flower farm workers exhibiting Fear Avoidance of work beliefs among workers reporting work-related musculoskeletal disorders at a farm in Kenya. The secondary objective was to determine the relationship between Fear Avoidance Beliefs over the previous 12 months and socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A sample of 270 participants was drawn from 897 farm workers, of which 184 presented with WRMSD as assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Inferential statistics were analyzed using the Pearson's chi-squared test (X2) test and based on an alpha level of p< 0.05. Descriptive statistics were presented using frequencies and percentages. Respondents who reported Decreased Risk of persistent Problems were 67 (36.4%), Increased Risk of Reporting No Improvement were 50 (27.2%), Decreased Risk for Not Returning To work were 34 (18.5%) while those who reported Increased Risk of Not Returning to Work were 33 (17.9%). There was no correlation between exhibiting Fear Avoidance and socio-demographic characteristics. Flower farm workers in Kenya were found to exhibit Fear avoidance of work beliefs.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download