Association among Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Job Stress, and Job Attitude of Occupational Therapists

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to investigate the associations among work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), job stress, and job attitude of occupational therapists in South Korea. Self-reporting questionnaires were distributed to 150 occupational therapists. Of the 128 occupational therapists who responded, 110 (85.9%) reported WMSDs affecting at least one body site. The most affected WMSDs site was the low back (26.8%), and the most reported number of body site affected by WMSDs was one (53.9%). As a result, there were significant differences in job stress and job attitude depending on the age, work experience, working hour, presence or absence of WMSDs, and number of site of pain. Factors influencing job attitude included job stress, the presence or absence of WMSDs and duration of pain. The results showed that the occurrence of WMSDs in occupational therapists was associated with increased job stress and negative job attitude.

KEYWORDS:

• Job attitude
• job stress
• work-related musculoskeletal disorders
• occupational therapist

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank all the participants.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

About the Authors

Jin-Hyuck Park, MPH, PhD Candidate, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea; Ji-Hyuk Park, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.