Musculoskeletal Problems among Agricultural Female Workers

Abstract

Abstract A scrutiny of occupational profile of population in India where maximum population depends for their livelihood on agriculture only points out that women make up 46 percent of total agriculture work force and there is hardly any activity in agriculture except ploughing and household chores in which women are not actively involved. At the same time this sector is considered as the most hazardous occupation and reason of various health problems like MSPs and MSDs in women workers. Thus a study was conducted on sixty farm women to identify the extent of musculoskeletal problems in them. Incidence of musculoskeletal symptoms, information on causes of pain, work load and severity of pain were assessed by self structured questionnaire and body map technique. The findings of the study indicated that farm women remain fully occupied and over-burdened with three-fold responsibility of farm, home and livestock management before they attain the age sixteen. Awareness about musculoskeletal problems was found to be very low among female workers albeit these women workers they were suffering from discomforts/pain in various parts of the body. Education on health and awareness about developed women friendly technologies for farm, home and livestock would help in minimizing the extent of musculoskeletal problems among agricultural female workers.