Clarifying Individual Predictors of Musculoskeletal Pain Inhibition and Expression in Housewives: a Qualitative Study

The expansion of the female population in the society and the high prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) is a significant issue because these disorders directly affect the quality of life and lead to a inability and also an increase in individual and social costs. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of explaining the predictors related to MSDs in women who are housewives.

Method and Materials: 

The present qualitative study was conducted among the housewives of Akbar Abad city in Fars province of Iran. This study was conducted in 2020 using the method of conventional content analysis and using the purposeful sampling method in a semi-structured way. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. The inclusion criteria included married women who were housewives and had musculoskeletal pain in one or more areas of their body.

After analyzing the results, the predictors of pain inhibition and expression were extracted in three main categories, including personality and cognitive characteristics, cultural factors, and the individual's living conditions.

These results showed that the women who had more confident, skills, and expectation beliefs were more likely to do proper back behavior. In this regard, MSDs prevention interventions should address using key individually cognitive factors that consider the potential change strategies.