Introduction:

Musculoskeletal disorders are the principal cause of absenteeism, due to biomechanical factors such as inadequate and static prolonged postures. Also exists a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms that affect work conditions; based on that is necessary to study these conditions and its components in the university teacher's community, taking care of adopted postures while working.

Materials and methods:

A descriptive, transversal study was conducted, which involved 70 university teachers with full time and part-time jobs, who perform administrative functions, master classes, or practical classes. The perception of musculoskeletal symptoms was assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the biomechanical risk, using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment method (REBA). The study took place at a university of Medellin (Colombia); researchers used a bi and multivariate analysis for the variables of the study.

Results:

The biomechanical risk was on medium level for the 64.7 % of this community. Results showed that 7 of 10 professors reported any skeletal muscle symptoms with a prevalence in the neck, shoulder, and lumbar zone.

Conclusion:

The percentage of teachers who referred to musculoskeletal symptoms was 68,5 %; the level of biomechanical risk has a higher ratio from medium to high, which suggest the necessity of immediately incorporating interventions for teachers and their work stations, which will improve their job performance and wellness.

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