TY - JOUR
T1 - Ergonomic stressors among pregnant healthcare workers impact on pregnancy outcomes and recommended safety practices
AU - Francis, Frincy
AU - Johnsunderraj, Heeba E.
AU - Divya, K. Y.
AU - Raghavan, Divya
AU - Al-Furgani, Atiya
AU - Bera, Lily P.
AU - Abraham, Aniamma
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Sultan Qaboos University. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/6/21
Y1 - 2021/6/21
N2 - Workplace environment can have a considerable impact on the physical, psychological and maternal health of pregnant healthcare workers. This article aimed to summarise the impact of work-related ergonomic stressors on pregnancy outcomes for healthcare workers, along with potential interventions to resolve these stressors. A narrative review analysis using the Pearl Growing Strategy was conducted between February 2019 and June 2020 to identify English-language articles published between 2000 and 2020. A total of 89 studies were identified from the SCOPUS (Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands), MEDLINE® (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) databases and Google Scholar (Google LLC, Menlo Park, California, USA). The results indicated that poor work-related ergonomics had detrimental effects on pregnancy outcomes, resulting in spontaneous abortions, preterm delivery, low birth weight babies and infertility. Policymakers and employers should conduct ergonomic assessments and implement appropriate practices to ensure the safety of pregnant healthcare workers.
AB - Workplace environment can have a considerable impact on the physical, psychological and maternal health of pregnant healthcare workers. This article aimed to summarise the impact of work-related ergonomic stressors on pregnancy outcomes for healthcare workers, along with potential interventions to resolve these stressors. A narrative review analysis using the Pearl Growing Strategy was conducted between February 2019 and June 2020 to identify English-language articles published between 2000 and 2020. A total of 89 studies were identified from the SCOPUS (Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands), MEDLINE® (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) databases and Google Scholar (Google LLC, Menlo Park, California, USA). The results indicated that poor work-related ergonomics had detrimental effects on pregnancy outcomes, resulting in spontaneous abortions, preterm delivery, low birth weight babies and infertility. Policymakers and employers should conduct ergonomic assessments and implement appropriate practices to ensure the safety of pregnant healthcare workers.
KW - Healthcare Workers
KW - Occupational Exposure
KW - Occupational Health
KW - Physical Ergonomics
KW - Pregnancy Outcomes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108700637&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108700637&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18295/squmj.2021.21.02.004
DO - 10.18295/squmj.2021.21.02.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 34221463
AN - SCOPUS:85108700637
SN - 2075-051X
VL - 21
SP - e172-e181
JO - Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal
JF - Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal
IS - 2
ER -