Association between work–family conflict and musculoskeletal pain among hospital patient care workers1. Issue 4 (27th September 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Seung‐Sup; Okechukwu, Cassandra A.; Buxton, Orfeu M.; Dennerlein, Jack T.; Boden, Leslie I.; Hashimoto, Dean M.; Sorensen, Glorian
• Is Part Of: American journal of industrial medicine. Volume 56:Issue 4(2013:Apr.)
• Page Start: 488
• Page End: 495
• Publication Date: 2012-09-27
• Subjects: Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Médecine du travail -- Périodiques; 616.9803
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22120
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0271-3586

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="abs1-1" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>A growing body of evidence suggests that work–family conflict is an important risk factor for workers' health and well‐being. The goal of this study is to examine association between work–family conflict and musculoskeletal pain among hospital patient care workers.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs1-2" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We analyzed a cross‐sectional survey of 1, 119 hospital patient care workers in 105 units in two urban, academic hospitals. Work–family conflict was measured by 5‐item Work–Family Conflict Scale questionnaire. Multilevel logistic regression was applied to examine associations between work–family conflict and self‐reported musculoskeletal pain in the past 3 months, adjusting for covariates including work‐related psychosocial factors and physical work factors.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs1-3" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>In fully adjusted models, high work–family conflict was strongly associated with neck or shoulder pain (OR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.64–3.34), arm pain (OR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.64–4.75), lower extremity pain (OR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.54–3.15) and any musculoskeletal pain (OR: 2.45, 95% CI: 1.56–3.85), and a number of body areas in pain (OR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.82–3.36) in the past 3 months. The association with low back pain was attenuated and became non‐significant after adjusting for covariates.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs1-4" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Given the consistent associations between work–family conflict and self‐reported musculoskeletal pains, the results suggest that work–family conflict could be an important domain for health promotion and workplace policy development among hospital patient care workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:488–495, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>