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. 2024 Feb 14;24(1):468.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17911-5.

Relationships between job stress, post-traumatic stress and musculoskeletal symptoms in firefighters and the role of job burnout and depression mediators: a bayesian network model

Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh  1 , Saleh Al Sulaie  2 , Saeid Yazdanirad  3   4 , Robin Marc Orr  5 , Fereydoon Laal  6
Affiliations

Relationships between job stress, post-traumatic stress and musculoskeletal symptoms in firefighters and the role of job burnout and depression mediators: a bayesian network model

Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Job stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and negative psychological outcomes in firefighters can be caused, or aggravated, by their work. These mental disorders can impart musculoskeletal symptoms. This study aimed to investigate relationships between musculoskeletal and psychological disorders in a population of firefighters using a Bayesian network model.

Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2022, included 2339 firefighters who completed questionnaires during their rest periods. The questionnaires comprised of demographical information, the Occupational Stress Questionnaire-HSE, the PTSD Checklist, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression scale (CES-D), and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. GeNIe academic software was used to analyze the Bayesian network.

Results: High job stress and high PTSD each increased the probability of musculoskeletal symptoms by 34%. When combined, high job stress and high PTSD increased the probability of musculoskeletal symptoms by 37%. Among the mediator's burnout and depression, depression had the highest association with musculoskeletal symptoms.

Conclusions: Job stress and PTSD can increase musculoskeletal symptoms and are influenced by psychological mediators (like burnout and depression). Adopting preventive and therapeutic measures to mitigate job stress and PTSD, mitigate and rehabilitate WMSD, and manage associated mediators are critical for the mental and physical health of firefighters.

Keywords: First responder; Job stress; Musculoskeletal injury; PTSD.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The dependencies among the variables; the marginal probabilities of the studied variables based on the Bayesian network model
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Sensitivity analysis on PTSD: (a) low and (b) high
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Sensitivity analysis on job stress: (a) low and (b) high
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Sensitivity analysis on simultaneously PTSD and job stress: (a) low and (b) high
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The ROC curve
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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