Tool development to assess the work related neck and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders among female garment workers in Sri-Lanka.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have been identified as a predisposing factor for lesser productivity, but no validated tool has been developed to assess them in the Sri- Lankan context.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a validated tool to assess the neck and upper limb MSDs.

METHODS: It comprises three components: item selections, item reduction using principal component analysis, and validation. A tentative self-administrated questionnaire was developed, translated, and pre-tested. Four important domains - neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist - were identified through principal component analysis.

RESULTS: Prevalence of any MSDs was 38.1% and prevalence of neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist MSDs are 12.85%, 13.71%, 12%, 13.71% respectively. Content and criterion validity of the tool was assessed. Separate ROC curves were produced and sensitivity and specificity of neck (83.1%, 71.7%), shoulder (97.6%, 91.9%), elbow (98.2%, 87.2%), and wrist (97.6%, 94.9%) was determined. Cronbach's Alpha and correlation coefficient was above 0.7.

CONCLUSION: The tool has high sensitivity, specificity, internal consistency, and test re-test reliability.