| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 物理治療暨輔助科技學系 === 99 === Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are the major health problems of Taiwanese workers. According to the survey of perceptions of safety and health in the work environment in 2007 at Taiwan, 37.9% of the employees reported body aches and pains in the past year. The prevalence for body aches and pains in the past year were 38.5% for shoulder, 31.9% for neck, and 26.0% for lower back and lumbar area. In the severer condition, body aches and pains influenced the performance of work and increased the days of sick leaves. Since the factors of the healthcare-seeking behavior for musculoskeletal disorders among Taiwanese workers have not been investigated, we conducted this survey study. Purposes: (1) To investigate the influencing factors of the healthcare-seeking behavior for musculoskeletal disorders in Taiwanese workers. (2) To investigate the perceptions and attitudes towards physiotherapy in Taiwanese workers. (3) To investigate the perceptions and attitudes towards workplace physiotherapy consulting service in Taiwanese workers. Study Design: An exploratory cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: A structural questionnaire was designed for this study. Three experts were consulted for assessing the content validity of the questionnaire. A convenient sample of 332 Taiwanese workers was recruited to participate in this survey. Statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS 15.0 software. Results: Almost 60% Taiwanese workers suffered body aches and pains over the shoulder, neck and lumbar area in the past year. Almost 30% Taiwanese workers looked for Chinese medicine treatment, and only 10% looked for physiotherapy treatment when they suffered musculoskeletal pain. The influencing factors of treatment choices for musculoskeletal disorders included professional skills of the physiotherapist, good service attitude, and correct evaluation and explanation of the disorders. Only 50-60% workers have correct perceptions and positive attitudes toward physiotherapy. The influencing factors of receiving physiotherapy consulting service included the professional ability of physical therapy, the effect of symptom reduction, and the cost saving (money and time). Discussions: Results of this study regarding the influencing factors of treatment choices for musculoskeletal disorders and receiving physiotherapy consulting service provide important information for better planning a workplace physiotherapy consulting service to fulfill the need of Taiwanese workers.
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