An era of deindustrialization has begun in Korea after the industrial development that occurred up until the 1990's. Post industrialization dictates the development of the service industry and information technology with the associated musculoskeletal disorders in such industries. The association between musculoskeletal symptoms and psychosocial factors has been investigated by several researchers. The aims of this study was to characterize the relationship between musculoskeletal symptoms and psychosocial factors including occupational stress and depressive symptoms, and to provide basic data to group health practices for the prevention of musculoskeletal symptoms in the service industry.

Musculoskeletal symptoms, depressive symptoms and occupational stress were surveyed in 311 female call center employees. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms, depressive symptoms and occupational stress scores were assessed. The odds ratio of the high risk occupational stress group into musculoskeletal symptom group was assessed in an effort to determine the associations between occupational stress and musculoskeletal symptoms.

The overall prevalence of musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms was 53.7% and 20.6% respectively. The high risk occupational stress group of the total scores (p=0.049), physical environment (p=0.022), job demand (p=0.014) and interpersonal conflict (p=0.032) to musculoskeletal symptom were significant. The depression group was also significant (p=0.015). The adjusted odds ratio of the high risk stress group into the musculoskeletal symptom group inclusion was 1.687 (95% CI; 1.014~2.808) for the physical environment, and 1.948 (95% CI; 1.031–3.683) for depression.

Overall, the relationship between musculoskeletal symptom and the psychosocial factors was not significant. Only the physical environmental stress factor and depression showed marginal significance, which suggests the possibility of an increased risk of musculoskeletal symptoms. However, since the group in this study was a homogeneous occupational population, further study with a reference group will be needed.