General and passenger-relevant factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among Chinese female flight attendants.

Background: A high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) has been reported among flight attendants. Identifying the root causes of these disorders may improve the health conditions of flight attendants and further improve flight safety and service quality.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to identify WMSD risk factors for a specific population, namely Chinese female flight attendants.

Methods: A two-stage survey including an online questionnaire (46 flight attendants) and a semi-structured interview (16 flight attendants) was used to assess the WMSDs of Chinese female flight attendants. Text analysis tools in NVivo 11 were used to identify the main concerns and risk factors for WMSDs of Chinese flight attendants.

Results: In the online questionnaire, more than 86% of the participants reported discomfort in at least one body part. Biomechanical factors, work organizational factors, and psychosocial factors were reported by participants in this study. Chinese passengers were found to have an effect on WMSD development in Chinese flight attendants.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that WMSDs are severe problems among Chinese flight attendants. General factors as well as the passenger-relevant factor were identified as the most influential causes of WMSDs.