FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WORK-RELATED BACK PAIN AMONG FOOD INDUSTRY WORKERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Authors

  • Rahmat Dapari Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM
  • Mohamad Rabani Abdul Wahab Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Wan Muhd Zainol Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Haziq Alias Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nurfarhana Zamri Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nadila Dzulkfli Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Mardhiyah Rusdi Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Rohaizat Hassan Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Nazri Che Dom Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim Public Health Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
  • Mohd ‘Ammar Ihsan Ahmad Zamzuri State Department of Health Negeri Sembilan, Seremban 70300, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.25/no.3/art.2152

Keywords:

back pain, food industry workers, associated factors, occupational factors

Abstract

Work-related back pain is a debilitating condition which causes poor quality of life, particularly among the working group population in the food industry. Those employed in manufacturing, distribution, marketing, retail, regulation, and consumption are most commonly affected by this disorder owing to occupational factors. This systematic review aims to present and determine the occupational factors contributing to food industry workers’ back pain. Relevant articles were collected from two electronic databases (EbscoHost and Scopus). Two independent reviewers screened the study titles and abstracts based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected articles were stored in Microsoft Excel. Essentially, the articles were critically reviewed to assess their quality using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Seven of the 387 articles were included in the final review. Individual, occupational, environmental, and psychological factors were found to affect work-related back pain among food industry workers. Early intervention that addresses the most common factors at individual, occupational, environmental and psychological levels are key to reducing the occurrence of work-related back pain. Serial intervention that minimises back-bearing activities is also crucial for food industry workers frequently experiencing the occurrence of work-related back pain. In addition to other measures, the working environment and workload distribution should be improved and optimised, respectively, to minimise the likelihood of work-related back pain among food industry workers.

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Published

2025-12-28

How to Cite

Rahmat Dapari, Mohamad Rabani Abdul Wahab, Wan Muhd Zainol, Haziq Alias, Nurfarhana Zamri, Nadila Dzulkfli, … Mohd ‘Ammar Ihsan Ahmad Zamzuri. (2025). FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WORK-RELATED BACK PAIN AMONG FOOD INDUSTRY WORKERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 25(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.25/no.3/art.2152

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 3 (2025): Vol 25 No 3 (2025)

Section

Articles