Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a major occupational health burden, yet early functional alterations are often difficult to capture with symptom-only screening or with predominantly structural imaging. Infrared thermography (IRT) provides a noncontact, nonionizing, physiologically grounded readout of superficial heat exchange that is strongly influenced by microperfusion and autonomic vasomotor control. We conducted an integrative narrative review with traceable study-level compilation to synthesize physiological foundations for thermal-signal interpretation, minimum requirements for acquisition standardization and Quality Control, and occupational applications for screening, risk characterization, and longitudinal monitoring, including multimodal integration. The final included corpus comprised 247 studies spanning diverse designs and contexts, with substantial heterogeneity in devices, regions of interest (ROIs), environmental conditions, thermal metrics, and reporting completeness. Across the evidence, interpretability was consistently dependent on protocol stability and on ROI-based, within-subject metrics [bilateral asymmetry, task-induced temperature difference (ΔT), and recovery dynamics] rather than isolated absolute thresholds. Occupational applications have most often targeted repetitive upper-limb demands, computer-based work, and cold challenge/rewarming paradigms in vibration-exposed populations. We provide an operational checklist aligned with guideline recommendations and propose a pragmatic multimodal workflow integrating IRT with functional measures [surface electromyography (sEMG), strength], structural/perfusion modalities (ultrasonography), and patient-reported outcomes. Future priorities include multicenter harmonization, occupation- and task-specific reference profiles, and prospective validation of decision rules under real-world conditions.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a major global occupational health concern, causing substantial pain, disability, and economic burden. They affect muscles, tendons, nerves, joints, and related structures, arising from or being aggravated by workplace factors. This narrative mini-review synthesizes evidence from targeted searches of peer-reviewed occupational health and ergonomics literature, focusing on epidemiological studies, systematic reviews, and recent advances in risk assessment. The review summarizes current knowledge on the prevalence and risk factors of WMSDs across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, construction, transport, and office work, where the lower back, neck, shoulders, and upper limbs are most frequently affected. Physical risk factors include repetitive motion, forceful exertion, awkward postures, prolonged static positions, and vibration exposure, while psychosocial factors such as high job demands, low control, inadequate support, and job dissatisfaction further increase risk. Individual characteristics, including age, gender, body mass index, and genetics, also influence susceptibility and highlight the need for tailored prevention, for example, interventions that accommodate women’s double work burden and age-sensitive strategies that help older workers maintain functional capacity. Advances in biomechanical modeling, wearable sensors, and multifactorial risk assessment now allow more precise exposure quantification and earlier detection of WMSD risk. Effective prevention requires multidisciplinary strategies that combine ergonomic workplace redesign, worker training, organizational policies addressing psychosocial risks, health promotion, and early clinical intervention. By consolidating epidemiological evidence, key risk factors, and prevention approaches from an occupational health perspective, this review supports evidence-informed prevention and underscores that coordinated occupational health policies and participatory workplace practices are essential to achieve sustainable reductions in the global burden of WMSDs.

Background: Nurses perform many daily care tasks that expose them to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Many studies have reported a high prevalence worldwide. Analyses by continent have provided a better understanding of the WMSD occurrence, but none have yet been conducted among African nurses. The aim was to conduct a systematic review analysis with meta-analysis of the overall WMSD prevalence and the prevalence by body area among nurses in Africa. Methods: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) method was used to present the results in the form of a systematic review analysis with meta-analysis. PubMed/Medline, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Mendeley, and Science.gov were explored between August 20 and 29, 2025 to identify studies that investigated the overall and body area WMSD prevalence among African nurses of any specialty without a date limit. Studies were included if they were cross sectional survey assessing the WMSD prevalence among nurses of any specialty or department working in Africa. Any study that was not a peer-reviewed cross-sectional survey published in English, that did not involve African nurses, or that did not report, or sufficiently detail data on the prevalence was excluded. The quality of each article included was assessed using the cross-sectional study assessment tool (AXIS). A meta-analysis with quantification of heterogeneity (Cochran’s Q test and I2 statistic) was conducted. Based on these parameters, a fixed or random effects model was selected to estimate the prevalence. Forest plots were used to summarize the overall, neck, upper back, lower back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle WMSD prevalence. Results: Nineteen cross-sectional studies were selected from the 4,305 identified studies, involving 4,670 African nurses from 10 countries. A significant heterogeneity was highlighted between studies (Cochran’s Q test and I2 statistic). Lower back [59.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 52.8–66.2%, 4,670 participants], neck (35.4%, 95% CI: 28.0–42.8%, 4,670 participants), and knee (34.4%, 95% CI: 27.2–41.6%, 4,601 participants) were the most exposed areas. The overall WMSD prevalence was pooled at 74.6% (95% CI: 67.0−82.3%, 4,266 nurses). Discussion: Comparison of these results with the literature showed that African nurses were less affected than those on other continents. However, the data were highly heterogeneous. Due to the numerous risk factors associated with nursing work, it is necessary to continue research projects and educational activities, as well as the development of health policies aimed at improving quality of life at work, specifically by expanding the investigation using subgroup analysis.