Relationship between prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders with mental workload and general health in housewives

Housekeeping is one of the occupations that have a variety of physical and psychological stresses. On the other hand, the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDS) is intensified by factors such as high physical and mental workload. Therefore, this study was aimed in order to investigate the relation between prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders with mental workload and general health in housewives.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 200 housewives by available sampling method. The Persian version of Nordic Questionnaire, Cornell (CMDQ), General Health (GHQ28) Mental workload (NASA-TLX) Questionnaire, were used for data collection.

Demographic characteristics showed that 90.5% of selected society are married, 62% had no university education and the average age was 42.33 ± 0.87 years. Interestingly, the results of this study show that, the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was found to be in the low back region (48%), followed by mean score of general health questionnaires (19.05± 8.34) and mental workload (52.16 ± 12.21). The result showed that there is a significant difference between musculoskeletal disorders with mental workload and general health.

Considering the role of housewives in human resource productivity, suggested that interventions to prevent MSDS and increase public health be considered by health authorities. Taking actions such as using the MSDS questionnaire, counselling, workshops, awareness sessions, posture correction and training on how to get things done, work-rest cycle program, diversification at work, and recreational programs can increase mental health, reduce mental workload and reduce musculoskeletal injuries.