Prevalence of Musculo-Skeletal Disorders among Hill Farm Women Involved in Transplanting of Vegetable Saplings

Abstract

The impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) is pervasive and prevalent across a wide spectrum of occupations, as is evident across the globe through the numerous studies conducted. However, there are few studies that document the prevalence of MSDs of women in India as the country's farming community constitutes more than 58 per cent of the Indian work force. Thus in the present study an attempt has been made to analyze the prevalence of MSDs in women farmers involved in transplanting of vegetable saplings. The study was carried out on thirty women of Simbalkhola village where women were mainly involved in vegetable growing. Green chilies, brinjal were transplanted with both traditional and improved sapling transplanter. The results revealed that the working heart rate of the women was 122 bpm^-1 while working with the traditional method in comparison to 116 bpm^-1 while working with new sapling transplanter. The postural analysis showed much of bent in the trunk and neck area while working in the traditional method as compared to the slight bent while working with the sapling transplanter. Further, the technology usage satisfaction was seen among the women users with slight alterations and additional feature like handles on both the sides along with a sapling carrier bag.