Systematic Review of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Gig Food Delivery Workers

A systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes findings from 23 eligible studies on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among gig-based food delivery workers. The study provides pooled prevalence estimates for injuries, including lower back (43%), shoulder (39%), neck (30%), and upper back (24%), and analyzes associated risk factors and workplace violence. It was authored by Yousef Alrashidi and published in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze the pooled prevalence estimates for specific injury sites like lower back (43%) and shoulder (39%) to quantify the burden of musculoskeletal disorders.
• Investigate the relationship between risk factors such as prolonged static postures, vibration exposure, and the reported prevalence of neck (30%) and upper back (24%) pain.
• Examine the narrative synthesis on different forms of violence (physical, verbal, psychological) and their association with gig economy working conditions.
• Use the extracted data on traffic accident (RTA) prevalence (25%) to model occupational hazards specific to delivery work.

Strengths

• Provides the first quantitative pooled estimates of WMSD prevalence for this worker population, based on a synthesis of 23 studies.
• Includes a detailed breakdown of injury prevalence by body site, with specific percentages for lower back, shoulder, neck, and upper back.
• Extends analysis beyond physical injuries to include risk factors and issues like workplace violence and traffic accidents.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 16.8 KB document containing review findings, not a primary data table, limiting direct computational analysis.
• The underlying data is aggregated from a relatively small pool of 23 eligible studies, which may constrain generalizability.
• As a static document, the data is not in a structured, machine-readable format like CSV, requiring manual extraction for analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Yousef Alrashidi.

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to June 2025.

Time Range

Literature covered up to June 2025; review published March 2026.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026, based on a literature search up to June 2025.

Geography

Global scope, based on an international literature review.