Work-related stress and musculoskeletal pain among female hospital staff

Musculoskeletal back pain and perceived psychosocial and organizational factors at work (POW factors) were studied in a sample of 586 female hospital staff. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed by self-report. Three POW factors were identified by factor analyses of the Cooper stress check: institutional policy, work overload, and social relations, whereas factor analyses of a scale designed for this particular study (the RJM scale) identified four additional POW factors: professional and social support, work content, responsibility, and work-home overflow. The main conclusions from this study are as follows: (1) POW factors are associated with musculoskeletal back pain. (2) These associations increase when psychosocial and organizational load occur in combination with ergonomic load and full-time employment. (3) POW factors tend to be more closely associated with neck pain than with low-back pain or shoulder pain. (4) All three POW factors identified by the Cooper stress check were significantly associated with back pain among female hospital staff. Of these, work overload, assessing quantitative and qualitative work load, yielded the strongest associations. (5) Of the POW factors identified by the RJM scale, work content, assessing variation and challenge of work tasks, was the factor that most frequently accounted for variance in back pain beyond POW factors identified by the Cooper stress check.