Korean J Occup Environ Med.  1998 Dec;10(4):463-475.

Study on Perceived Occupational Psychosocial Stress and Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders among VDT Works

• Ju YS
• Kwon HJ
• Kim DG
• Kim JY
• Baek NJ
• Choi HR
• Bae IK
• Park JM
• Kang JD
• Cho SH

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that jobs that have both high psychological demands and low decision latitude ('job strain") can lead to musculoskeletal disorder. The objective of this study was to test whether job strain was correlated with the presence of work-related musculoskeletal disorder, especially myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). Information on demographic factors, confounders such as household load and taking care of children or not, and scores for decision latitude, job demand, and social support was obtained by self-administered questionnaire, which had been developed in Korean language, by adopting NIOSH instrument and Extended Karasek Model (16 items). All subjects were also examined by rehabilitation medicine specialists for musculoskeletal disorders. Subjects (n=370) could be categorized into 4 groups, these were, housewives(n=89), shipyard CAD workers(n=89), general female workers(n=79; nurses, insurance counselors, public officials, clerks, etc), and telephone directory assistance operators(n=113). Results from univariate analyses indicated that all demographic factors, all confounders, scores for decision latitude and social support were not associated with the risk of musculoskeletal disorder. However, score for job demand was higher in musculoskeletal disorder cases than others. In subgroup analysis, this association was convinced again, in telephone directory assistance operators. Job strain model showed that the group of telephone directory assistance operators was high-strain group, and OR of musculoskeletal disorder was 2.446 (95% C.I. : 1.174, 5.096), when comparing this with the low strain group. In conclusion, job strain is a risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorder.

Keyword

work-related musculoskeletal disorder; job strain model

MeSH Terms

Child
Counseling
Demography
Family Characteristics
Female
Humans
Insurance
Myofascial Pain Syndromes
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.)
Questionnaires
Rehabilitation
Risk Factors
Specialization
Telephone