Assessment of job stress among firefighters and its potential association with musculoskeletal disorders

Job stress is one of the most common health-related problems all over the world, which is associated with many physical hazards. The aim of this study was to assess job stress in firefighters and to investigate its association with musculoskeletal disorders.

This work is a descriptive-analytical study and was conducted in one of the firefighting stations located in Tehran. HSE Job Stress Questionnaire and the Kernel Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire were used to assess job stress and musculoskeletal disorders, respectively. Data analysis was performed using SPSS21 software. Ethical considerations were observed in all stages of the study.

Mean age of employees and their working time were 32.66 ± 5.83 years and 9.14 ± 2.1 hours per day, respectively. The lowest and highest levels of job stress were 8.83 and 22.58 and the amount of total job stress was equal to 107.29. Musculoskeletal disorders were very common among firefighters and were in the knee, shoulder, back and neck areas, respectively. Overall score of job stress and role dimensions, support of officials, support of colleagues, demand and change were significantly associated with musculoskeletal disorders.

Job stress and musculoskeletal disorders were very common among firefighters and a statistically significant relationship was observed between job stress and musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, job stress may be a factor in the development of musculoskeletal disorders in firefighters, so a care system for firefighters is needed to reduce job stress and prevent musculoskeletal disorders.