Agricultural work is one of the manual materials-handling work tasks in developing countries. The cultivators toil for prolonged periods of time in the open fields without proper work-rest cycles. The vegetable cultivators work in awkward postures (squatting, bending and twisting) along with a high amount of repetitiveness. This could lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) in the lower back, upper back, shoulders, neck and knee joints. This study thus aims at studying the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among the vegetable cultivators of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. A cross-sectional study on 171 male vegetable cultivators was conducted using a Modified Nordic Questionnaire. The Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS) was applied and activity analysis was also performed. Data were statistically analyzed with t-tests and chi-square tests wherever appropriate. High prevalence of MSD was observed among the cultivators where the back (81.28%) and upper extremities (57.89%) were mostly affected. Postural analyses indicated that the cultivators adopted different stressful postures for prolonged periods. As observed, the majority of the subjects suffered from at least one disability due to MSD, hinting at reduced work performance. Ergonomic interventions including alternate postures, work-rest schedules and changes in body movements are required to reduce the prevalent health risks.

Although university athletes face multiple physical and mental health problems and need relevant support, they avoid using student health care and counselling services. It is important to build a system such that university athletes use these services easily. This study aimed to examine the factors limiting and facilitating the use of student health care and counselling services in a Japanese sport university sample. We conducted a semi-structured interview with each of the 21 participants who were Japanese university athletes (12 males, 9 females; mean age = 20.6 years; standard deviation = 0.8 years). To extract the factors limiting and facilitating the use of student health care and counselling services, we analysed the data with KH Coder 3 using the co-occurrence network analysis. Based on our analysis, four limiting (e.g. ‘embarrassment’) and six facilitating factors (e.g. ‘security feelings towards staff’) for the use of health care services were extracted. Further, five limiting (e.g. ‘low awareness’) and four facilitating factors (e.g. ‘professional office’) for the use of counselling services were found. This study indicated that there are different limiting and facilitating factors for each service and it is necessary to deal with these specific factors.