The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal system pain in teachers and its relationship with work stress

<i>Objectives.</i> The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence and severity of entire-body musculoskeletal system pain (MSSP) in teachers and its association with work stress. <i>Methods.</i> The sample in this descriptive, cross-sectional research consisted of 437 teachers. Research data were collected using a sociodemographic information form, the Cornell musculoskeletal discomfort scale and the work stress scale (WSS). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. <i>Results.</i> The most prevalent MSSPs observed in the 20 body regions of the teachers in the study, a profession involving high work-related pain levels, were in the lumbar, neck and back regions. Each one-unit increase in teachers' WSS scores increased the likelihood of work-related lumbar pain by 6% (prevalance ratio [PR] 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.04, 1.12]), of neck pain by 11% (PR 1.11; 95% CI [1.08, 1.16]) and of back pain by 8% (PR 1.08; 95% CI [1.05, 1.14]). A significant positive correlation was observed between MSSP scores in the 20 body regions and WSS scores. <i>Conclusions</i>. MSSP is a widespread occupational health problem, and work stress is a cause of significant MSSP in the body as a whole and particularly in the lumbar, neck and back regions.