Gender analysis of musculoskeletal disorders and emotional exhaustion: interactive effects from physical and psychosocial work exposures and engagement in domestic work

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the relationships between physical and psychosocial work exposures, engagement in domestic work and work-home imbalance in relation to symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and emotional exhaustion in white- and blue-collar men and women. Three thousand employees from 21 companies were asked to answer a questionnaire on family structure, household and child care tasks, work exposure, work-home imbalance and symptoms of neck/shoulder disorders, low back disorders and emotional exhaustion. Women reported more musculoskeletal disorders and engagement in domestic work. Adverse at-work exposures were highest in blue-collar women. High engagement in domestic work was not separately associated with symptoms but paid work exposure factors were associated. High engagement in domestic work interacted with adverse work exposure and increased risk estimates for low back disorders and emotional exhaustion. Reported work-home imbalance was associated with neck/shoulder disorders in women and with emotional exhaustion in both women and men.

Practitioner Summary. The current article adds to earlier research by showing that high engagement in domestic work is not separately associated with increased symptoms, but interacts with psychosocial work exposure variables to produce emotional exhaustion in both women and men and low back disorders in women.

Keywords:

• physical work load
• psychosocial factors
• domestic workload
• work-home imbalance
• musculoskeletal disorders
• emotional exhaustion
• gender

Acknowledgements

The study was supported by grants from VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) and Umeå Center for Global Health, Umeå University.