ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
This article is part of the Research TopicNavigating Environmental Hazards in the Workplace: Impacts and InterventionsView all 33 articles
Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among beach workers
Provisionally accepted
Mariela Sousa dos Santos1Jailma dos Santos Silva1,2Wiler de Paula Dias1Thayane Silva Nunes1Joelma Marques Rodrigues1
Adedayo Michael Awoniyi1
Cleber Cremonese1*- 1Institute of Collective Health, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
- 2Universidade Federal da Bahia Faculdade de Medicina de Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
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Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of repetitive strain injuries (RSIs)/work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and their potential demographic, economic and occupational determinants among urban beach workers in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, between 2023 and 2024. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional epidemiological study among 579 urban beach workers in Salvador between November 2023 and March 2024. Following ethical approval and informed consent, structured questionnaires were administered to obtain data on sociodemographic, occupational and work environment characteristics. The outcome, self-reported cases of RSI/WMSDs in the previous 12 months was evaluated using the question "in the last 12 months, have you been diagnosed with RSI/WMSDs?" (yes/no). Prevalence and prevalence ratios were calculated using Poisson regression with robust variance, and analyses were stratified by sex. Results: The 12-months prevalence of RSI/WMSD was 18.1%. Among participants, 59.4% were male, 25% were aged ≤29 years and 11.4% were aged ≥60 years. A total of 92.9% identified as Black or Brown. Informality was reported by 72.3% of workers, 70.2% worked ≥9 hours/day and 88% had never received professional training. Women were 1.67 (95% CI: 1.11-2.52) times more likely to report RSI/WMSD compared to men. Working ≥13 hours/day increased likelihood of RSI/WMSD by 2.27 (95% CI: 1.12-4.59) times compared with working ≤8 hours/day. Having experienced at least one work-related accident (WA) in the past year increased the probability of an RSI/WMSD diagnosis by 64% (95% CI: 1.09-2.49). Conclusions: The overall prevalence of RSI/WMSDs was 18.1%. Female sex, extended working hours and recent WA were associated with the outcome. Although no statistically significant associations were found with broader work conditions, the findings highlighted a precarious occupational context characterized by informality, physical overload, insufficient infrastructure and lack of professional training.
Keywords: Epidemiology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Workers, Beaches, MusculoskeletalDisorder, Sex Distribution
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sousa dos Santos, dos Santos Silva, de Paula Dias, Silva Nunes, Marques Rodrigues, Awoniyi and Cremonese. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Cleber Cremonese
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