Musculoskeletal pain in undergraduate health students: prevalence and associated factors

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with musculoskeletal pain in undergraduate health students. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with undergraduate students from a university in the south of Brazil between April and July 2017. The Brazilian version of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire and a questionnaire for the characterization of students were used. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test and Poisson regression were used for the analysis. Results: Participation of 792 undergraduate health students. The region of the vertebral column had a higher prevalence (74.9%) of musculoskeletal pain. The variables of female sex, age between 18 and 20 years, overweight, not having time for leisure, six or more daily hours of mobile phone use, having a clinical condition with medical diagnosis and attending the intermediate or final semesters of the course were associated with musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: The high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain demonstrates the need for strategies aimed at preventing this aggravation still in the academic setting.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst undergraduate nursing students at the University of Johannesburg

“…A study by Moodley and Naidoo ( 2015 ) on the prevalence of MSD on dentistry students was more in line with our findings regarding high MSD prevalence. However, a common trend amongst all the studies (Moodley & Naidoo 2015 ; Morais et al 2019 ; Munabi & Madadzedah 2014 ), including the present study, is that lower back pain is the most frequently occurring MSD.…”

“…In the literature, posture, repetitive movements, time spent on studying, time spent on the computer and lifting of both equipment and patients were found to have positive associations or relationships with MSDs. Studies by Panebianco ( 2017 ), Moodley and Naidoo ( 2015 ) and Morais et al ( 2019 ) confirmed the association between the above factors and MSD prevalence. High frequencies of postural and lifting challenges were recorded in the present study, corroborating the above findings.…”

“…Morais et al ( 2019 ) also found a strong association between the number of hours spent in the class and the prevalence of MSDs amongst health students in Brazil. Students who spent long hours sitting in the class had a comparatively higher prevalence of MSDs than those who spent fewer hours sitting in the class, with all other variables being held constant.…”

“…Students who spent long hours sitting in the class had a comparatively higher prevalence of MSDs than those who spent fewer hours sitting in the class, with all other variables being held constant. Practical courses were found to expose students to many rigorous postural movements and lifting activities and accounted for over 80% of the MSD prevalence in the studied sample (Morais et al 2019 ). These findings were analogous to those in the present study, which show that long hours spent in classes could be a possible cause of the high MSD prevalence.…”

Brazilian version of the Self-Estimated Functional Inability because of Pain questionnaire for musculoskeletal injuries relating to dance and sport: translation and cross-cultural adaptation

“…4 However, to assess the presence of musculoskeletal pain or discomfort throughout the body, the NMQ remains the tool most commonly used in research and clinical practice. 8,11,12,25,26 The NMQ makes it possible to record which part of the subject's body has experienced pain in the last 12 months and 7 days, thus generating a nominal result. 27 In a complementary manner, SEFIP-dance and SEFIP-sport not only allow recording of which body region presented pain at a given moment but also have a disability scale ranging from 0 to 4 points, thereby generating a numerical score for interpretations of pain and disability.…”