Effects of Psychosocial Strain on Back Symptoms in Tehran General Hospital Nursing Personnel

Abstract

Nursing is a stressful and highly demanding job. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between psychosocial job strain and the prevalence of back symptoms in nursing personnel using the demand-control model. In a cross-sectional study, 545 nursing professionals answered to a self-administered questionnaire on demography, job content, and lower and upper back symptoms (LBS and UBS, respectively). Based on their answers, the participants were grouped as follows: low strain, high strain, active job, and passive job. The groups were compared in regard to the prevalence of LBS and UBS (totalling 58.5 % and 47.9 %, respectively) over the past 12 months. We found no association between job control and back symptoms, but participants with high psychosocial job demands showed greater risk of LBS (OR=1.57 and p=0.014) and UBS (OR=1.73 and p=0.005) than those with low job demands. LBS in the low strain, high strain, and active job groups was more prevalent than in the passive group (OR=1.64, OR=2. 49 and OR=1.90, respectively; p≤0.05). In addition, the high strain group showed greater prevalence of UBS than the passive group (OR=1.82 and p=0.019). Our study suggests that psychosocial job strain, high psychosocial demands in particular, may be associated with greater prevalence of back symptoms in nursing personnel. Our fi ndings may help to design preventive measures that would lower the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in this profession. Arh Hig Rada Toksikol 2013;64:505-512 Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are among the most common complaints among factory workers (1, 2). The United States and Canada spend 3.1 % and 4.2 %, respectively for indirect costs of MSDs. Annually, billions of dollars are spent on diagnostic and therapeutic procedures related to MSDs (3, 4). According to Caruso and Waters (5), musculoskeletal disorders are also a major cause of morbidity among healthcare workers. Trinkoff et al. (6) suggest that MSDs may be associated with increased nurse turnover. Owen (7) showed that 20 % of nurses had changed their jobs at least once because of an MSD. KEY WORDS: lower back pain, musculoskeletal system, nurses, stress, upper back pain Golabadi M, et al. PSYCHOSOCIAL STRAIN AND BACK SYMPTOMS IN NURSESWith a prevalence of 30 % to 60 %, low back disorders (LBD) are the most frequent MSDs among nurses (6). About 30 % of all LBDs are work-related (8), including psychosocial factors such as job strain (9-13).In his demand-control model, Karasek (14) defi nes job strain as a combination of high psychological job demands and low job control at work. This model has extensively been used to assess psychosocial job hazard in investigations of various work-related health outcomes. The underlying principle is that workrelated stress, measured by levels of job demands and Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/11/18 12:12 PM

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“…Previous research in a large hospital applying a questionnaire includes both task level and social and organizational factors and reported a significant association between psychosocial factors and self reported musculoskeletal symptoms at various body sites among Iranian nurses (16).…”

Low back pain among nurses in Slovenian hospitals: cross‐sectional study

“…; Golabadi et al. ). Both the inability and ability to control daily lives correlated with the occurrence of LBP.…”

“…The fact that LBP has most frequently been reported among nurses is well documented (Golabadi et al. ; Rahimi et al. ; Yassi & Lockhart ).…”

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