Objective: Perioperative nursing staff is a high-risk group for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), so the risk factors should be
explored.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between June and August 2015. The purposive sample comprised
186 perioperative nursing personnel working at a university hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A self-reported questionnaire was used to measure physical and psychological workload, personal factors, and the occurrence of MSDs.

Results: The findings showed the rate of MSDs among perioperative nursing staff in at least one body part during the 12-month period was 83.9 percent and that during the 7-day period was 71.8 percent. The most common MSDs were lower back (60.6%), shoulder (60.0%), and knee (52.8%). There was a significant association between MSDs and physical workload (OR = 2.6, CI = 1.1 to 5.9), and psychosocial workload-i.e., demand of hiding emotions (OR = 3.9, CI = 1.2 to 9.7) and emotional demand (OR = 2.6, CI =
1.1 to 6.0).

Conclusions: There was a high reported occurrence of MSDs among perioperative nursing personnel, which seem to be associated with their high volume physical and psychosocial workload.

Keywords: Risk factors, Musculoskeletal disorders, Perioperative nursing staff