Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disease of widespread bodily musculoskeletal pains which negatively impacts an individual's job performance. The healthcare service is a stressful profession, entailing longer working hours than other professions and requiring considerable physical and mental stamina. This study aimed to explore demographic (sex, age) and work-related (profession, workday length) predictors of FM in a sample of Egyptian adults with higher education.
Methods: Age and sex matched Egyptian physicians (PH) and non-physicians (NP) with non-medical higher education degrees, were screened for FM using FM Rapid Screening Tool. Sex, age group, profession (PH or NP) and workday length (short, standard, or extended) were collected. Logistic regression was used to explore predictors of FM.
Results: A total of 426 participants were recruited (212 PH and 214 NP). FM was observed in 11.8% of PH and 16.4% of NP (p=0.176). PH worked longer hours than NP (p< 0.001) even in the presence of FM (p< 0.001). Female sex (Odds ratio (OR) 2.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24-2.58, p=0.012), age ≥40 years (OR 3.13, 95% CI 1.61-6.09, p<0.001) predicted FM presence, while participant profession (PH vs NP) and different workday lengths did not.
Conclusions: The frequency of FM did not significantly differ between PH and NP. Traditional demographic variables predicted FM in this cohort, while work related ones did not. Larger studies are required to elucidate the relationship between work related variables such as occupational stress and burnout and the development of FM among Egyptians with higher education.