ORIGINAL PAPER
Quality of life and neck pain in nurses
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1
Academic Rheumatology, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK
 
2
Academic Rheumatology, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK
 
3
Department of Plastic Surgery, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK
 
4
Centre for Comparative and Clinical Anatomy, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
 
 
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2014;27(2):236-42
 
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate the association between neck pain and psychological stress in nurses. Material and Methods: Nurses from the Avon Orthopaedic Centre completed 2 questionnaires: the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and 1 exploring neck pain and associated psychological stress. Results: Thirty four nurses entered the study (68% response). Twelve (35.3%) had current neck pain, 13 (38.2%) reported neck pain within the past year and 9 (26.5%) had no neck pain. Subjects with current neck pain had significantly lower mental health (47.1 vs. 70.4; p = 0.002), physical health (60.8 vs. 76.8; p = 0.010) and overall SF-36 scores (56.8 vs. 74.9; p = 0.003). Five (41.7%) subjects with current neck pain and 5 (38.5%) subjects with neck pain in the previous year attributed it to psychological stress. Conclusions: Over 1/3 of nurses have symptomatic neck pain and significantly lower mental and physical health scores. Managing psychological stress may reduce neck pain, leading to improved quality of life for nurses, financial benefits for the NHS, and improved patient care.
eISSN:1896-494X
ISSN:1232-1087
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