Prevalence of Neck Pain in Hospital Secretaries and Impact of Disability on Psychological State and Quality of Life

Research Article

Austin Med Sci. 2016; 1(1): 1005.

Prevalence of Neck Pain in Hospital Secretaries and Impact of Disability on Psychological State and Quality of Life

Mustafa Ozer¹, Lale Altan1,2, Canan Celik³ and Burcu Metin Okmen¹*

¹Saglık Bilimleri University Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkey

²Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkey

³Giresun University Faculty of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkey

*Corresponding author: Burcu Metin Okmen, Saglık Bilimleri University Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Emniyet Street. Yıldırım/Bursa, Turkey

Received: June 16, 2016; Accepted: August 11, 2016; Published: August 17, 2016

Abstract

Objectives: The primary purpose of our study is to compare the frequency of neck pain in hospital secretaries working in sitting position with a control group of similar age and gender. Our second purpose is to investigate the relation between neck pain and disability in hospital secretaries and psychological status and quality of life.

Material and Methods: 100 female hospital secretaries and 100 housewives with no regular job for at least 2 years aged between 20-55 years were included in this study. After demographic characteristics of the participants were recorded, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Short Form-36(SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) forms were filled. This data was compared between hospitals secretaries and unemployed women. In addition, relationships between total working time and neck pain, disability, quality of life and psychological state in secretaries were examined.

Results: It was observed that hospital secretaries had high scores in all VAS, NDI and HADS scales with respect to housewives. They had significantly lower scores for SF-36 physical functioning, vitality, social functioning, mental health and mental components. A significant correlation was found between pain severity and disability and between pain severity and physical function, social functioning and physical component scores from SF-36 sub-scores in hospital secretaries. A significant correlation was found between total working time of secretaries and duration of pain and disability.

Conclusion: Hospital secretaries are at risk in terms of neck pain, disability, anxiety and depression. Preventive measures should be taken to increase productivity of work and employee welfare.

Keywords: Neck pain; Hospital secretary; Computer user; Ergonomic

Introduction

Neck pain is a common problem [1], and 60-70% of the population in developed countries complain of this pain at least once in their life [2]. Generally, it is more frequently observed in women [3]. Neck pain leads to a serious loss of labour and economic losses [4], similar to back pain. It can lead to functional limitations and disability due to its negative effects on activities of daily living. The main objective of treatment is correction of functional status of the patient. To increase therapeutic success, factors that have effects on functional status should be well-known [5]. One of these factors is bad posture. Millions of people around the world work at a table and the relationship between musculoskeletal complaints and bad sitting posture of these employees provides inspiration to researches [6]. Rapid advances in industry especially in the last 20 years and technological progresses have created the problem of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) in office employees who operate computers. WMSD is defined as injury or disease of muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage and spinal disc which develop as a result of risk factors in the work environment [7]. These disorders primarily affect the neck and upper extremities, with lesser effects on back and waist regions. As a result of these negative influences, employee productivity is reduced, high labour loss emerges and both labour forces and treatment costs are negatively affected [8]. As chronic pain is a complex concept which develops on a multifactorial basis, clinical evaluation as well as information on psychological factors, demographic factors and economic status of patients can also help clinicians [5]. Some studies have shown that psychological factors are associated with neck pain in both acute and chronic phase. Cognitive factors, anxiety, depression and emotional status were found to be associated with pain and disability and they are recognized as risk factors [9]. We have not found a study on the frequency of neck pain hospital secretaries, investigating their psychologic status, quality of life and disability. Our aim in this study was to compare the frequency of neck pain in healthy individuals and hospital secretaries working beside a table, along with their duration of employment and postural disturbances, and to investigate the relationships between psychological status, quality of life, disability and neck pain in hospital secretaries.

Material and Methods

Patients

100 female hospital secretaries aged between 20-55 years and 100 housewives with no regular job for at least 2 years were included in this study. Inclusion criteria for the study were as follows: female hospital secretaries who work actively and females with no regular job for at least 2 years. Patients with a history of serious neck or head trauma, neck surgery, a neurological disease, or malignancy, who were diagnosed to have depression and anxiety and medically treated, were excluded from the study. Our study received approval from the local ethics committee with a decision number of 2014/09/05 on 30 April 2014. First of all, informed consent forms were signed by all participants, after they were thoroughly informed in detail regarding the study. All secretaries included in this study were working at the same hospital. Housewives who were friends of these secretaries who consented to participate in this study were included in the control group. All forms were filled by a secretary who was kept blind on the study. Demographic characteristics of all subjects were recorded. Duration of employment at the same workplace was recorded as months for hospital secretaries. The duration of pain was recorded for all participants (Figure 1).