Role of Occupational Stress and Burnout in Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Embassy Personnel of Foreign Countries in Iran

BACKGROUND Occupation is one of the major parts of our daily lives that might cause a great amount of stress. Stress and job burnout are linked together. The association between musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and burnout syndrome as a psychosocial factor was investigated previously. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to identify the role of occupational stress and burnout in musculoskeletal complaint among diplomatic employees of different embassies in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a cross-sectional study, we assessed 200 employees of the foreign countries embassies in Iran. The participants were selected randomly from all the embassy personnel. Study questionnaires were delivered to the participants and finally 161 questionnaires were returned to the researchers (response rate: 80.5%). An assessment of burnout and MSD were made using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Nordic questionnaires. The work place stress was measured by the work place stress questionnaire. RESULTS Mean occupational stress was significantly higher among embassy personnel with MSD than among the personnel without this syndrome during the preceding week (17.18 ± 3.42 and 16.06 ± 2.19, respectively; P = 0.02) and the preceding year (17.17 ± 3.11 and 16.74 ± 3.03, respectively; P < 0.01) to the study. Only smoking and occupational stress were identified as independent predictors of MSD among embassy personnel. CONCLUSIONS It seems that association between musculoskeletal complaints and burnout syndrome was more complex than being attributed to only occupation stress. Further studies are recommended to determine other related factors to this association.