Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden have carried out the study of students and computer workers and found that women suffered more neck pain, a classic symptom of stress, than men.
"There is a debate among researchers as to why muscle and joint pain, such as neck pain, is so common, and why this seems to be more prevalent among women.
"We know physical work with heavy lifting or assembly work that involves a lot of arm-raising above shoulder height can lead to neck pain. By looking at a group whose work is less physically demanding, we can more readily identify other factors such as stress.
"These results were something of a surprise as the researchers had expected that roughly the same number of women as men would develop neck pain in a young group like this, where the majority had yet to start a family and the women and men shared a similar working environment,"l ead researcher Anna Grimby-Ekman was quoted by the `Daily Express` as saying.
Experts have welcomed the findings.
Prof Cary Cooper, an organisational psychologist at Lancaster University, said: "In nearly every developed country women perform what we call the double shift. They go to work like a man but also perform the primary role at home. It is the double pressure from those two roles that leads to the symptoms of stress.