Introduction Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the first medical reason for work stoppage among military personnel and are one of the main reasons for dismissal from army service. Prevalence of MSDs, in particular those of the upper limbs (UL-MSDs), among military officers, is insufficiently known, as well as their risk factors, given the complexity of the military service.

Objective To assess the prevalence and the determinants of UL-MSDs in Tunisian army officers.

Methods This is a cross-sectional study among army officers, based on a questionnaire with several items: socio-demographic, occupational characteristics, and psycho-social constraints at work through the Karasek standardized questionnaire. The Nordic questionnaire was adapted to assess musculoskeletal health.

Results Five hundred and twenty-seven participants were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 28.86 years and extremes ranging from 19 to 55 years. Prevalence of UL-MSDs in the study population was 10.6%. The univariate analysis showed that UL-MSDs in army officers were significantly associated with : age (p<10^-3), job seniority (p=0.009), weekly worked hours (p=0.007), wearing a helmet (p=0.039) and job strain (p<10^-3). According to the multivariate analysis, determinants of the risk of UL-MSDs in the study population were: history of upper limbs trauma (p=0.002, OR=3.1; CI 95% = [1.49; 6.44]), age (p= 0.001; OR=1.89; CI 95% = [1.30; 2.73]), occupational category (p=0.047; OR= 0.78; CI 95% = [0.62; 0.99]) and irregular working hours (p=0.008; OR=2.99; CI 95% = [1.32; 6.75]).

Conclusion Prevention of UL-MSDs in army officers represents major challenges for military health professionals. Keeping a good operational capacity of military personnel is dependent on the establishment of an effective global preventive approach that covers the various aspects of the work in this environment, while respecting its particularities.