Affiliations: School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Emre Baskan, School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey. Tel.: +90 2582964258; E-mail:ebaskan@pau.edu.tr
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The musculoskeletal pain is one of the leading health
problems among employed women. The aim of our study was to examine
musculoskeletal pain, depression and quality of life (QOL) among employed
women and find out the differences with unemployed women. METHODS: A hundred and fifty employed women and 151 housewives were
included in our study. We used visual analog scale (VAS) for the assessment
of pain, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for the depressive symptoms and
Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) for the assessment of QOL. RESULTS: The ratio of musculoskeletal pain among employed women and
unemployed women were found as 42.5% and 57.5% respectively. A mild
level of depression was found among employed women whereas moderate and
vigorous level of depression were found among unemployed women. There were
significant differences in terms of depression and QOL parameters. When the
correlations of pain, depression and QOL were analyzed, significant high
positive relationships between spinal, lower extremity, upper extremity pain
levels and BDI and NHP were found only in housewives. CONCLUSIONS: Lower levels of depression among employed women can
give the idea that social ambience at work place, focusing at work and
economic independence play a role in decreasing depression.
