The relationship among sleep quality, fatigue and work-related musculoskeletal disorders in firefighters
10.20001/j.issn.2095-2619.20251003
- VernacularTitle:消防员睡眠质量、疲劳与工作相关肌肉骨骼疾患关系
- Author:
Xu JIN
1
;
Wenchu HUANG
;
Long′ao YANG
;
Yun WANG
;
Lei CAO
;
Lihua HE
Author Information
1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders;
Sleep quality;
Fatigue;
Firefighters;
Relationship;
Mediation effect
- From:
China Occupational Medicine
2025;52(5):496-502
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To explore the relationship among sleep quality, fatigue and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in firefighters, and to examine the mediating effect of fatigue between sleep quality and the risk of WMSDs. Methods A total of 271 firefighters from three prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province were selected as the study subjects by a convenient sampling method. The Chinese Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Fatigue Scale-14 were used to assess WMSDs, sleep quality and fatigue status among the study subjects. The effect of sleep quality and fatigue on WMSDs was analyzed, as well as the mediating role of fatigue between sleep quality and the risk of WMSDs. Results The annual prevalence of WMSDs among the firefighters was 68.6%. The firefighters who had poor and very poor sleep quality accounted for 36.2% and 7.7%, respectively. There were 88.6% of firefighters reported fatigue. The total scores of PSQI and fatigue of firefighters in WMSDs group were higher than those in non-WMSDs group (all P<0.01). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the higher the total score of PSQI, the worse the sleep quality, and the higher the risk of WMSDs in firefighters (all P<0.01). The higher the total score of fatigue, the higher the risk of WMSDs (P<0.01), and the risk of WMSDs in the fatigue group was higher than that in the non-fatigue group among the firefighters (P<0.01). The direct effect of sleep quality on WMSDs in firefighters was 0.028 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.012-0.050, P<0.01], and its indirect effect on WMSDs mediated by fatigue was 0.027 (95%CI: 0.018-0.040, P<0.01). Fatigue played a mediating role in sleep quality and WMSDs, with the mediating ratio of 0.491 (95%CI: 0.304-0.740, P<0.01). Conclusion Poor sleep quality and fatigue are related to an increased risk of WMSDs in firefighters in a dose-response manner. Fatigue plays a mediating role between sleep quality and the risk of WMSDs.
