Quality of life and neck pain in nurses.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between neck pain and psychological stress in nurses.


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.
Academic Rheumatology, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK, emma.clark@bristol.ac.uk.
Lucy E
LE
Joslin
Christopher R
CR
Davis
Patricia
P
Dolan
Emma M
EM
Clark
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult