Do Demographic, Economic, and Quality-of-Life Indicators Have an Effect on the Prevalence of WMSDs Among African Nurses? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nurses in Africa are exposed to musculoskeletal disorders at work (WMSDs). They are multifactorial and may be related to demographic, economic, and quality-of-life factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nurses’ age, experience, body mass index (BMI), and macroscopic indices such as nurse-to-bed ratio, Human Development Index (HDI), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the overall prevalence and prevalence by body area. A systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted during September 2025. ScienceDirect, PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, Science.gov, and Mendeley were scanned without a date limit. The article selection, review, critical appraisal, and data extraction were performed by two authors independently. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used for reporting the search results. Among the 4305 identified records, 18 studies included for a total of 4266. The overall prevalence was pooled at 77.4%. Subgroup analyses demonstrated a decrease in WMSDs with age, and nurse-to-bed ratio, and an increase in lower limb WMSDs with experience, BMI, GDP, and HDI (for most of body areas). Future work could examine the effect of the nurse-to-bed ratio by considering the resources of a facility and conducting more in-depth analyses by subgroup. The development of ergonomic programs remains essential to the well-being at work of African nurses.