Relationship between General Health and Musculoskeletal Discomfort along with Psychosomatic Complaints in Nurses
Abstract
Background: Workplace problems can lead to psychosomatic complaints. We aimed to assess the relationship between general health and occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders along with psychosomatic complaints.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. This research was conducted about the nurses who worked at the hospitals located in the northwest of Tehran, Iran (Valiasr, Farhikhtegan, and Khatam), and participated in this study from Aug 2019 to Feb 2020. The data were collected by the demographic and clinical information questionnaire. Goldberg's general health questionnaire and psychosomatic complaint scale were completed by nurses.
Results: In total, 158 nurses participated in this study. There was a significant relationship between the score of the general health questionnaire (GHQ) and psychosomatic complaints in three categories (low, moderate, and high) (P≤0.0001). There was a significant relationship between the mean score of GHQ and musculoskeletal discomfort in the neck, shoulder, forearm, hand and wrist, upper/lower back, knee, and ankle (P≤0.0001).
Conclusion: Continuity of psychosomatic complaints may be a risk factor for mental health in nurses and may affect the quality of care. Hence, health policymakers and hospital managers should consider it in service training for nurses.
2. Smith DR, Sato M, Miyajima T, et al (2003). Musculoskeletal disorders self-reported by female nursing students in central Japan: a complete cross-sectional survey. Int J Nurs Stud, 40(7):725-9.
3. Devereux J, Vlachonikolis I, Buckle P (2002). Epidemiological study to investigate potential interaction between physical and psychosocial factors at work that may increase the risk of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorder of the neck and upper limb. Occup Environ Med, 59(4):269-77.
4. Lorusso A, Bruno S, L'abbate N (2007). A review of low back pain and musculoskeletal disorders among Italian nursing personnel. Ind Health, 45(5):637-44.
5. Eriksen W, Bruusgaard D, Knardahl S (2004). Work factors as predictors of intense or disabling low back pain; a prospective study of nurses’ aides. Occup Environ Med, 61(5):398-404.
6. Knudsen AK, Øverland S, Aakvaag HF, et al (2010). Common mental disorders and disability pension award: seven year follow-up of the HUSK study. J Psychosom Res, 69(1):59-67.
7. LaDou J, Harrison R (2007). Current occupational & environmental medicine. ed. McGraw-Hill New York.
8. Eriksen TE, Risør MB (2014). What is called symptom? Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 17(1):89-102.
9. Payne H (2015). The body speaks its mind: The BodyMind Approach® for patients with medically unexplained symptoms in primary care in England. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 42:19-27.
10. Group CSA (1994). Epidemiology Review: The Epidemiology and Cost of Back Pain: the Annex to the Clinical Standards Advisory Group's Report on Back Pain. ed. HM Stationery Office.
11. Coggon D (2005) Occupational medicine at a turning point. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
12. Palmer KT, Calnan M, Wainwright D, et al (2005). Disabling musculoskeletal pain and its relation to somatization: a community-based postal survey. Occup Med (Lond), 55(8):612-7.
13. Nasiry D, Javadi Kahriz E, Khalatbary AR (2017). Musculoskeletal disorders and their relationship with burnout among nurses; A descriptive analytical study. Iranian Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 3(2):44-52.
14. Nasiry Zarrin Ghabaee D, Haresabadi M, Bagheri Nesami M, et al (2016). Musculoskeletal disorders in nurses and their relationship with occupation-related stress. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci, 25(132):91-102.
15. Nasiry Zarrin Ghabaee D, Haresabadi M, et al (2016). Work-related musculoskeletal disorders and their relationships with the quality of life in nurses. Journal of Ergonomics, 4(1):39-46.
16. Goldberg D, Williams P (2000). General health questionnaire (GHQ). Swindon, Wiltshire, UK: nferNelson.
17. Lindsay SJ, Powell GE (1994). The handbook of clinical adult psychology. ed. Psychology Press.
18. Takata Y, Sakata Y (2004). Development of a psychosomatic complaints scale for adolescents. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 58(1):3-7.
19. Kumar R (2013). Psychosomatic complaints among nursing students-A cross sectional survey from Punjab. Delhi Psychiatry Journal, 16:343-349.
20. Jaradat Y, Nijem K, Lien L, et al (2016). Psychosomatic symptoms and stressful working conditions among Palestinian nurses: a cross-sectional study. Contemp Nurse, 52(4):381-397.
21. Alexopoulos EC, Stathi I-C, Charizani F (2004). Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in dentists. BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 5:16.
22. Tezel A (2005). Musculoskeletal complaints among a group of Turkish nurses. Int J Neurosci, 115(6):871-80.
Files | ||
Issue | Vol 51 No 4 (2022) | |
Section | Original Article(s) | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v51i4.9249 | |
Keywords | ||
Psychosomatic Health Nurses |
Rights and permissions | |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |