Prediction of musculoskeletal disorders in nurses through the demand-control model

There is a dearth of information available on psychological job demands and control in the job (decision latitude) and their relationship with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among Iranian nurses. The present study was conducted to investigate psychological job demands and control in the job and their relationship with the prevalence of MSD symptoms among nurses in hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 385 nurses at SUMS hospitals selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected using the Persian version of the Job Content Questionnaire (P-JCQ), the standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and a demographic questionnaire. The data obtained were then analyzed in SPSS-11.5 using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The mean (SD) of the different dimensions of psychological job demands and control in the job were calculated as 38.19 (5.14) and 58.15 (6.50). The results revealed psychological job demands to be high and control in the job to be low. A total of 29.1% of the nurses suffered from a high job strain (a high demand and low control). Regression modeling showed that the chance of suffering from lower extremity disorders among the nurses placed in the cells indicating a high job strain cell was 2.35 times higher than those placed in the cells indicating a low job strain. The demand-control model placed the majority of the nurses in the cells indicating a high job strain. Any interventional program designed for preventing MSDs among nurses should focus on increasing their control and changing their job conditions from a high strain condition to a low strain or active one.