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Perceived work demands, felt stress, and musculoskeletal neck/shoulder symptoms among elderly female computer users. The NEW study

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to test a structural model of the relationship between the perceived quantitative (time pressure and unevenly distributed workload) and emotional work demands and self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms from the neck and shoulder region with felt stress (rested, relaxed, calm, tense, stressed, and pressured at the end of a normal workday) as a mediating variable. As part of the NEW (Neuromuscular assessment in the Elderly Worker) study, a European case-control study, the present cross-sectional study was based on a questionnaire survey among Danish, Dutch, Swedish and Swiss female computer users aged 45 or older ( n =148). The hypothesized structural model was tested using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that perceived work demands influence neck/shoulder musculoskeletal symptoms through their effect on felt stress. The results further indicate complete mediation, which means that all of the effect of the perceived work demands on symptoms could be attributed to the stress mechanism. As regards the percentage of explained variance in the endogenous variables, 36% of the variation in felt stress was explained by the perceived work demands, and about 20% of the variation in musculoskeletal neck/shoulder symptoms was explained by the combination of the perceived work demands and the felt stress.

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Acknowledgements

This work was undertaken within the project “Neuromuscular Assessment in the Elderly Worker” (NEW), with partial financial support from the EC within the RTD action QLRT 2000 00139. The authors thank Associate Professor Jan Johansson Hanse and Assistant Professor Bengt Jansson at Göteborg University for valuable statistical advice and assistance in preparing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Göteborg University, Department of Psychology, Göteborg, Sweden

    P. Larsman

  2. National Institute for Working Life/West, Box 8850, 40272, Göteborg, Sweden

    P. Larsman & L. Sandsjö

  3. Chalmers University of Technology, Product and Production Development/Human Factors Engineering, Göteborg, Sweden

    L. Sandsjö

  4. University Hospital Zurich, Department of Rheumatology and Institute of Physical Medicine, Zurich, Switzerland

    A. Klipstein

  5. Roessingh Research and Development, Enschede, The Netherlands

    M. Vollenbroek-Hutten

  6. National Institute of Occupational Health, Copenhagen, Denmark

    H. Christensen

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  1. P. Larsman
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Correspondence to P. Larsman.

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Larsman, P., Sandsjö, L., Klipstein, A. et al. Perceived work demands, felt stress, and musculoskeletal neck/shoulder symptoms among elderly female computer users. The NEW study. Eur J Appl Physiol 96, 127–135 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-004-1263-6

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