Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India
Abstract Tobacco is one of the important commercial crops in India. The operations in the cultivation of tobacco crop are different from other crops, performed in odd postures with a potential risk of musculoskeletal disorders and nicotine absorption. The present study aims to find the Musculoskelet...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| author | Achugatla Kesav Kumar Adarsh Kumar Hari Lal Kushwaha V. Ramasubramanian Anilendu Pramanik B. S. Madhusudan Mude Arjun Naik Rachamalla Naveen Awani Kumar Singh |
| author_facet | Achugatla Kesav Kumar Adarsh Kumar Hari Lal Kushwaha V. Ramasubramanian Anilendu Pramanik B. S. Madhusudan Mude Arjun Naik Rachamalla Naveen Awani Kumar Singh |
| author_sort | Achugatla Kesav Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Tobacco is one of the important commercial crops in India. The operations in the cultivation of tobacco crop are different from other crops, performed in odd postures with a potential risk of musculoskeletal disorders and nicotine absorption. The present study aims to find the Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) of tobacco farmworkers by conducting a survey and postural analysis during tobacco cultivation. The prevalence of MSD was assessed by surveying 120 tobacco farm workers in southern India (Andhra Pradesh). The data was collected through personal interviews with the help of a developed survey proforma based on the Standard Nordic Questionnaire. The postural stresses were assessed by “Rapid Entire Body Assessment” (REBA), “Body part discomfort Score” (BPDS), and “Overall Discomfort Score” (ODS) techniques. MSD affecting body parts was highest in one or both knees (47%), followed by one or both ankles/feet (43%), shoulders and neck (37%), wrist/hands (27%), lower back (24%), one or both hips/thighs/buttocks (19%) and upper back (10%). REBA scores for transplanting, weeding and harvesting tobacco leaves were 8.0, 8.16, and 8.2 in the “High risk” category requiring “investigation and implement change”. BPDS and ODS were highest in the harvesting of tobacco leaves (50.25 and 3.90), followed by the transplanting of seedlings (39.5 and 3.82) and weeding (40.20 and 2.87) respectively. Postural analysis inferred a higher risk in transplanting seedlings, harvesting tobacco leaves and weeding. Most of the postures adopted had high REBA, BPDS and ODS scores. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-b004975a49ea4ea38b58c3ded96f63242025-08-20T03:03:40ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-08587-xMitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, IndiaAchugatla Kesav Kumar0Adarsh Kumar1Hari Lal Kushwaha2V. Ramasubramanian3Anilendu Pramanik4B. S. Madhusudan5Mude Arjun Naik6Rachamalla Naveen7Awani Kumar Singh8Polytechnic of Agricultural Engineering, Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS)Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research ManagementDivision of Sports Sciences and Medicine, Guru Nanak Dev University Department of Agricultural Engineering, REVA UniversityDivision of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)Abstract Tobacco is one of the important commercial crops in India. The operations in the cultivation of tobacco crop are different from other crops, performed in odd postures with a potential risk of musculoskeletal disorders and nicotine absorption. The present study aims to find the Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) of tobacco farmworkers by conducting a survey and postural analysis during tobacco cultivation. The prevalence of MSD was assessed by surveying 120 tobacco farm workers in southern India (Andhra Pradesh). The data was collected through personal interviews with the help of a developed survey proforma based on the Standard Nordic Questionnaire. The postural stresses were assessed by “Rapid Entire Body Assessment” (REBA), “Body part discomfort Score” (BPDS), and “Overall Discomfort Score” (ODS) techniques. MSD affecting body parts was highest in one or both knees (47%), followed by one or both ankles/feet (43%), shoulders and neck (37%), wrist/hands (27%), lower back (24%), one or both hips/thighs/buttocks (19%) and upper back (10%). REBA scores for transplanting, weeding and harvesting tobacco leaves were 8.0, 8.16, and 8.2 in the “High risk” category requiring “investigation and implement change”. BPDS and ODS were highest in the harvesting of tobacco leaves (50.25 and 3.90), followed by the transplanting of seedlings (39.5 and 3.82) and weeding (40.20 and 2.87) respectively. Postural analysis inferred a higher risk in transplanting seedlings, harvesting tobacco leaves and weeding. Most of the postures adopted had high REBA, BPDS and ODS scores.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08587-xTobacco farm operationsTobacco farm workersMSDREBA |
| spellingShingle | Achugatla Kesav Kumar Adarsh Kumar Hari Lal Kushwaha V. Ramasubramanian Anilendu Pramanik B. S. Madhusudan Mude Arjun Naik Rachamalla Naveen Awani Kumar Singh Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India Scientific Reports Tobacco farm operations Tobacco farm workers MSD REBA |
| title | Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India |
| title_full | Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India |
| title_fullStr | Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India |
| title_short | Mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in Andhra Pradesh, India |
| title_sort | mitigation of musculoskeletal disorders and postural stresses among tobacco cultivation workers in andhra pradesh india |
| topic | Tobacco farm operations Tobacco farm workers MSD REBA |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08587-x |
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