Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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Introduction: In theexperienceof pain,thesensory andthe emotional components should be considered. Emotionalcomponents of the painincludea variety of emotional states which depression is the most importantone. Thus, in this study, first, musculoskeletal pain was compared between depressedand non-depressed industrial workersand then otherphysical anddemographicfactorsinfluencing thedepression andmusculoskeletal disorderwere studied.
 

Method and material: Thiscross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conductedin 2012, among 179 industrial workers in Shiraz city.In this study,the participantswere selected throughcensus.The data collection instruments were three questionnaires including Body Discomfort Chart (BDC), visual analogue scale type, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and demographic informationquestionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSSsoftware version 16. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests wereemployedfor comparison of variables and Kendall correlationwas used for determining the relationship between variables.
 

Results: Findings of the study showed that the maximum (19%) and the minimum (3.4%) painwere belonged to back and arm/forearm, respectively. Furthermore, 36.2% of participantshad a low-to-acute level of depression. Comparison of musculoskeletal disorders betweendepressed and non-depressed workers with Mann-Whitney Test manifested a significant different in head/neck, back,left hand/wrist,right hip and knee (p<0.05).Also Kruskal Wallis statistical test showed no significant differences in depression levelamong various occupational groups,however, painsignificantly differed among various groupsin a way that its rate was higher for office workers,comparing to other groups.
 

Conclusion: The higher score of depression among workerswith musculoskeletal pain can be due to failure in pain relief achievement. Psychological problemsthatoccurfollowingchronicpainarerelated to continuous discomfort, frustration and thinking about the pain. This situation causes the feelings of inadequacy and inefficiency and consequently the increase ofprobability of depression.

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Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has imposed a significant effect on mental health of the health care workers. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at determining the pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression among Iranian health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Material and Methods: To conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline (PubMed), Embase, SID, Magiran databases and Google Scholar search engine were investigated to find studies over the prevalence of anxiety and depression among health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic from December 2019 to June 10, 2021. Quality of the primary studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa tool and the random effects model was applied to estimate the pooled prevalence. Furthermore, χ2 test and I2 index were used to evaluate the degree of heterogeneity among the studies. The pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression in different subgroups was reported based on the severity of anxiety and depression, assessment tools, and staff jobs.
Results: Of 488 articles obtained as a result of the initial search, 10 related studies were identified and entered into the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of anxiety was 42% (95% CI: 25-75) and the pooled prevalence of depression was 35% (95% CI: 19-55). The pooled prevalence of anxiety was 54% (95% CI: 39-70) in the occupational group of nurses and 29% (95% CI: 17-44) among all health care workers. The pooled prevalence of depression was 46% (95% CI: 30 to 63) and 17% (95% CI: 10 to 26) among nurses and all health workers, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the findings, a high prevalence of anxiety and depression was observed among the health care workers of Iran during the Covid-19 epidemic. The authorities are required to plan for preventive and therapeutic interventions to reduce the psychological burden of the epidemic.