Mistreatment at work and musculoskeletal pain in male and female working Syrian refugee children

Abstract

Since the Syrian war in 2011, Syrian refugees in Lebanon have continued to experience socioeconomic deprivation, resorting many families to child labour as a form of survival. Adopting a gender-sensitive analysis, this study explores the relationship between psychosocial adversities and musculoskeletal pain among male and female Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, using data from a cross-sectional survey of working Syrian refugee children between 8 and 18 years in informal tented settlements in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. The majority of working children (4090) worked in agriculture (75.8%). Of the children who experienced musculoskeletal pain, 27.4% worked despite severe pain, three-quarters of the children worked under time pressure, over a third (37.4%) were physically abused at work, and the majority (95.8%) had a good relationship with their co-workers. Logistic regression models revealed a significant association between exposure to psychosocial stressors at work and musculoskeletal pain among male and female children. Practitioner summary: This study is the first to obtain direct testimony on musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial risk factors, among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. Using a gender-sensitive analysis, the survey results demonstrated associations between exposure to psychosocial stressors and musculoskeletal pain among male/female Syrian refugee children enduring strenuous working conditions.