work-related muscluskeletal disorders and work ability among hospital employees in southeast of iran

Background: the work ability index (wai) evaluates how well workers cope with the physical and mental demands of their jobs. objectives: this study aims to explore how demographic factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (wmsds) influence work ability among employees at the largest specialized hospital in southeast iran. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted at the largest specialized hospital in zahedan. a sample of 194 clinical staff and support personnel, including nurses, nursing assistants, patient transporters, and cleaning staff, were randomly selected through a stratified random sampling method. work ability and musculoskeletal discomfort were assessed using the persian versions of the wai and cornell questionnaires. quantitative data were presented as mean ± sd, while qualitative data were expressed as numbers and percentages. pearson correlation, kruskal-wallis, mann-whitney u, and one- and multi-factor general linear models were used for data analysis in spss version 19. results: work ability decreased with age (p < 0.001). significant associations were found between work ability and age, job category, education, and body mass index (bmi) (p < 0.05). after adjusting for age, job, education, and bmi, lower back pain (p = 0.002), thigh pain (p = 0.004), and knee pain (p = 0.026) were significantly linked to work ability. there was a notable negative correlation between work ability and discomfort score (r = -0.337, p < 0.001), with nursing assistants reporting higher discomfort scores compared to nurses, cleaning staff, and patient transporters (p < 0.05). conclusions: our findings suggest a potential link between musculoskeletal disorders (msds) and work ability. therefore, it is recommended to implement a program focused on identifying and addressing the risk factors associated with msds.