Abstract
This study aims to investigate the risk of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders（WMSDs）among medical radiological technologists in their operations, as well as applying ergonomic intervention strategies to improve their quality of work life. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was be used to obtain the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, A total of 20 responses were received,with the response rate of 100%. The results indicated that 85.1% of the sample consciously perceivemusculoskeletal discomfort.The most uncomfortable body parts were the lower back (55.0%), neck (45.0%), shoulder (30.0%), hand and wrist (30.0%). The results of Chi-Square analysis showed that there existed significant correlations between the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the Age, BMI, fregrenly ofstay-up, fregrenly of smoking, experience of wrrent positionand overall work experience. The results of the MSDs checklist analysis revealed that hand and wrist, back and neck werewith higher risk of musculoskeletal disorders.The results of the BRIEF checklist analysis revealed that neck, shoulder, back and elbow were with high risk.OWAS identified 14.8% of operations into AC2 and 7.4% of operations into AC3, which required corrective actions soon or immediately.The results of the QEC checklist analysis revealed that back, neck, shoulder and arm (81.8% for extremely-high or high) required ergonomics intervention to reduce the exposure levels.In terms of consistercy with NMQ, OWAS outperformed MSDs, BRIEF and QEC.In other words, OWAS can be replaced by NMQ, which saves time for the evaluation with other analysis tools. The potential reasons for musculoskeletal discomfort in medical radiological technologists were awkward working posture and repetitive work, including transferringpatients, helping the patient get to the right position, carrying cassettes with one hand, lifting the patient and positioning cassette underneath him or her at the same time, adjusting the X-ray tube and consoleoperation.It is recommended that medical radiologic technologists should have adequate recognition of the risks they are exposing themselves to.In addition, better manpower planning, improvement of standard operation procedures,and redesign of tools and workstations are needed to help reduce musculoskeletal disorders among medical radiologic technologists.