Background and objectives Musculoskeletal discomforts (MSDs) attribute greatly to work-related disability, but the social distributions of MSDs in the general working population have seldom been investigated. Moreover, although ergonomic and psychosocial factors at work are known to contribute to musculoskeletal risks, their independent effects on specific sites of MSDs have not been well assessed. This study aimed to examine the social distributions of MSDs and the associations of ergonomic and psychosocial work factors with the risks of MSDs of different bodily sites in general employees of Taiwan.

Methods Participants were representative employees aged 25–65 years from a nationwide survey of 2016. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain information concerning work-related ergonomic and psychosocial factors, employment conditions, and MSDs of different bodily sites over the past 12 months.

Results A total of 5242 male and 4164 female employees was included. Workers who were older, with lower education levels, being manual skilled or low skilled workers, worked in the construction industry, and being employed in small-sized enterprises had higher risks for MSDs, and the most common bodily site were the neck/shoulders, low back, and wrists/hands. Psychological demands, workplace justice and ergonomic factors were significantly associated with MSDs. Furthermore, results of separate regression models performed for MSDs of different bodily sites showed that higher psychological demands and lower workplace justice were associated with MSDs of the neck/shoulders to a greater extent than other work-related factors, while whole-body-related ergonomic factors and hand-related ergonomic factors were more greatly associated with MSDs of lower back and wrists/hands, respectively.

Conclusions MSDs were more prevalent in workers with lower socioeconomic positions. Differential contribution of specific types of work-related ergonomic and psychosocial factors to the risks of specific types of MSDs should be taken into consideration in the management of MSDs in the workplace.