Berita Kedokteran Masyarakat
Vol 42 No 07 (2026)

Occupational musculoskeletal disorders in female workforce: a bibliometric perspective

Bayu Yoni Setyo Nugroho (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, Semarang, Indonesia)
Izzatul Alifah Sifai (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, Semarang, Indonesia)
Ratna Setyaningrum (Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan / Public Health, Medical Faculty, Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Banjarmasin, Indonesia)
Muhammad Dyas Husnan Khair (École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (EHESP), France)



Article Info

Publish Date
29 Jul 2026

Abstract

Purpose: To conduct the first gender-sensitive bibliometric analysis of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among female workers using Web of Science data (1999–2025), addressing a critical gap in occupational health research. Methods: A bibliometric methodology was applied to 59 scholarly articles extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection (1999–2025), selected from an initial pool of 1,847 records via systematic screening based on subject area, language, document type, and gender-specific occupational focus. VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) and R Bibliometrix (version 4.x) were employed for co-citation analysis (citation threshold = 1, yielding 54 cited references) and keyword co-occurrence analysis (67 keywords; total link strength = 327). Results: Eight research clusters were identified: Clinical Conditions and Pain and General Health and Work Environment emerged as the most dominant clusters, followed by Risk Assessment and Demographics, Anatomical Regions and Specific Disorders, Work Conditions and Psychosocial Factors, Physical Demands and Ergonomics, Prevalence and Epidemiology, and Intervention and Management. Publications remained low from 1999 to 2010 but increased markedly from 2011, peaking at 9–10 articles per year in 2020–2021. Citations grew exponentially from 2015, exceeding 130 annually in 2021. Public Environmental Occupational Health dominated the field (50% of studies; 787 total citations; 29.15 citations/year). Conclusion: This study provides the first bibliometric mapping of occupational MSDs in female workers, revealing critical gaps in female-specific ergonomic and psychosocial interventions (Cluster 8). These findings highlight the urgent need for gender-sensitive workplace policies, targeted ergonomic guidelines, and gender-disaggregated risk standards in labor frameworks—particularly within female-dominated sectors like garment manufacturing, food processing, and healthcare.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

bkm

Publisher

Subject

Nursing Public Health

Description

Berita Kedokteran Masyarakat (BKM Public Health and Community Medicine) is a peer-reviewed and open access journal that deals with the fields of public health and public medicine. The topics of the article will be grouped according to the main message of the author. This focus covers areas and scope ...