Knowledge of and attitudes toward work-related musculoskeletal injuries in firefighters in Cape Town, South Africa – a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Firefighters encounter dangerous conditions in their work environment that place them at risk of severe injury. Musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) are one of the primary injuries sustained by firefighters, which may be due to the firefighters’ lack of knowledge and poor attitudes toward MSIs. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine firefighters’ knowledge of and attitudes toward work-related MSIs in the City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service.

Methods: The study made use of convenient sampling and recruited 226 firefighters in the City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service. A self-administered researcher-generated questionnaire was used to collect information on the firefighters’ knowledge and attitudes about work-related MSIs. To ensure the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the questionnaire underwent face and content validity, as well as a pilot study was conducted to ensure the questionnaire was suitable for research purposes. Mann-Whitney-U test, Kruskal-Wallis-H test, Spearman’s rank correlation and linear regression were utilized for data analyses. Statistical significance was set at a p-value less than 0.05.

Results: The results showed that most firefighters (62.6%) had good knowledge of work-related MSIs, and the majority (59.0%) had negative attitudes toward work-related MSIs. In addition, positive correlations were present between overall knowledge of work-related MSIs and overall attitudes toward work-related MSIs (r = 0.423, p <0.001) and between attitudes toward physical activity (r = 0.439, p <0.001). Overall knowledge of MSIs was linearly related to overall knowledge of MSIs (β = 0.383, p <0.001).

Conclusion: The majority of firefighters had good knowledge of work-related MSIs, but-negative attitudes toward MSIs. The promotion of educational programmes using short courses, workshops and webinars on the factors contributing to the high injury prevalence should be implemented and encouraged.