Introduction Occupational environment plays an important role in health of the exposed population. Traffic police personnel (TPP) are more vulnerable to this situation. Work-related Musculoskeletal symptoms (WRMSS) is defined as any trouble (ache, pain or discomfort) in nine topographic region of the body. The purpose of the study is to find the prevalence of WRMSS and to find the association between the various risk factors like-age, working hours, work in the field (years), body mass index(BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, chewing tobacco with the development of WRMSS and to assess the sickness absenteeism and reduction in productivity.

Methods An analytical cross-sectional study of WRMMS was done among 355 traffic police from all 36 traffic booths of Kathmandu Valley. Data was collected using a questionnaires adapted from the Dutch and Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaires. The number of traffic police was selected according to the proportion of the traffic police in each traffic booth.

Results The average age of the respondents with standard deviation were 29.59±6.99 years and a majority were male (90.1%). Almost 70% of respondents had complain of WRMSS in any body parts during last 12 months and the most common site was low back (51.3%).WRMSS lead to 9.25% absenteeism from work and 2.25% change duties due to Musculoskeletal trouble. The variables age, duration of working hour, work in the field (years), BMI were significantly associated with WRMSS (all p<0.05).There was no significant association between education, smoking, alcohol consumption, and chewing tobacco with WRMSS in Traffic police.

Conclusion WRMSS affects more than 70% of traffic police with most common site being the low back. Significant risk factors include- age, duration of working hour, work in the field (years) and body mass index. Periodic examination, ergonomics modification and health education will definitely help to improve the quality of life among this group.