Journal of Health and Safety at Work

Introduction: In theexperienceof pain,thesensory andthe emotional components should be considered. Emotionalcomponents of the painincludea variety of emotional states which depression is the most importantone. Thus, in this study, first, musculoskeletal pain was compared between depressedand non-depressed industrial workersand then otherphysical anddemographicfactorsinfluencing thedepression andmusculoskeletal disorderwere studied.
 

Method and material: Thiscross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conductedin 2012, among 179 industrial workers in Shiraz city.In this study,the participantswere selected throughcensus.The data collection instruments were three questionnaires including Body Discomfort Chart (BDC), visual analogue scale type, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and demographic informationquestionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSSsoftware version 16. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests wereemployedfor comparison of variables and Kendall correlationwas used for determining the relationship between variables.
 

Results: Findings of the study showed that the maximum (19%) and the minimum (3.4%) painwere belonged to back and arm/forearm, respectively. Furthermore, 36.2% of participantshad a low-to-acute level of depression. Comparison of musculoskeletal disorders betweendepressed and non-depressed workers with Mann-Whitney Test manifested a significant different in head/neck, back,left hand/wrist,right hip and knee (p<0.05).Also Kruskal Wallis statistical test showed no significant differences in depression levelamong various occupational groups,however, painsignificantly differed among various groupsin a way that its rate was higher for office workers,comparing to other groups.
 

Conclusion: The higher score of depression among workerswith musculoskeletal pain can be due to failure in pain relief achievement. Psychological problemsthatoccurfollowingchronicpainarerelated to continuous discomfort, frustration and thinking about the pain. This situation causes the feelings of inadequacy and inefficiency and consequently the increase ofprobability of depression.