Complaint of Pain in the Upper Limbs and its Relationship With Job Stress in Office Workers

Undoubtedly، Job stress and musculoskeletal disorders are directly related to the staff health. According to the Department of Social Therapy، Musculoskeletal diseases contribute to 4. 14 % of overall disability in Iran. Also the maximum number of referrals to primitive medical commission of Social Security Organization has been due to musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to determine complains of pain in upper extremity and to investigate its relationship with job stress in office workers. This study was a cross-sectional study. The sample in this study was 320 with 37% male and 62. 6% female from administrative staff of medical sciences of Shahid Beheshti and Social Welfare and Rehabilitation University of Tehran، Iran. The tools used in the study were Body Discomfort Chart، HSE job stress and open-ended response questionnaire. Stratified random sampling method was used according to population in each university. SPSS 16 was used for the statistical analysis. The results showed that the greatest musculoskeletal disorders are related to back (about 28/2%)، and the lowest related to arm and forearm (about 4. 7%). There was a significant difference between male and female samples in terms of complaints of back، arm، neck and shoulder. For subscales related to psychosocial factors، t he highest rate of stress was related to Relationship (73. 1%) and the lowest was related to Control (2. 5%). No significant different was found between psychometric characteristics and complaints of pain in the upper extremities. The results of this study showed that stress and pain in the upper extremity was high in the sample. However، no significant relationship was found between stress and pain in the upper extremity. According to high levels of stress and musculoskeletal disorders in this sample and regarding that the previous studies have proved the role of stress and musculoskeletal disorders in productivity، absence from work، and job satisfaction، prevention of these factors seems to be highly essential.