Complaints of the musculoskeletal system such as back pain are reported frequently by workers. Evidence about the location, nature, and intensity of the symptoms employees suffer is important in a workplace context, making it possible to set priorities for preventive action and evaluate any measures that are taken.

When such conditions are surveyed systematically, this is primarily done using questionnaires. Today many organisations rely on one of the assorted adaptations of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) originally developed by Kuorinka et al. (1987), for example when providing preventive occupational health care and conducting employee surveys or organisational studies.

It became apparent from an analysis of the latest findings about how the NMQ is currently being used in international studies (Kreis, Liebers, Dulon, Freitag, and Latza, 2021) that the questionnaire needed to be updated, and requirements were formulated for an updated German-language version. This revision of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire has been developed and trialled by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) in cooperation with the German social accident insurance provider for non-state institutions within the health and welfare service sectors (Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege, BGW) and will be available in future under the title Musculoskeletal Complaints Questionnaire (MCQ). The structure of the second edition (Liebers et al., 2021) has been reworked for the new version of the brochure, with the results from the trial phase being drawn on and trial participants and experts being involved. The general notes have been amended and expanded, while notes on the use and evaluation of the questionnaire have been added. These notes are intended for all practitioners who wish to deploy the Musculoskeletal Complaints Questionnaire in workplace settings. Apart from such editorial changes, the Musculoskeletal Complaints Questionnaire has been extended to cover symptoms experienced during the previous seven days and include a page on conditions in the upper extremities. It was decided to remove the detailed questions on vocational status because they were not essential to a questionnaire that was so firmly focussed on specific complaints.

The updated questionnaire is concise, comprehensible, practical, modular, and consistently structured, as well as covering all parts of the body. The MCQ can be used to ascertain where and how frequently musculoskeletal complaints occur and whether they restrict individuals' work or leisure activities.

This publication replaces the brochure "Nordischer Fragebogen zu Muskel-Skelett-Beschwerden (NFB*MSB): Version zur Erprobung (2021)".

Please download the complete brochure "Musculoskeletal Complaints Questionnaire (MCQ)" (in German only).