Musculoskeletal pain and symptoms in pregnancy: a descriptive study

Abstract

Background:Pregnancy-induced hormonal and physiologic changes increase the risk of musculoskeletal problems in pregnancy. The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive look at the musculoskeletal pain and symptoms experienced during pregnancy.Methods:A total of 184 women (mean age 30.9 ± 5.0 years) who gave birth in the obstetrics clinic of a tertiary hospital were included in the study. The participants who had given birth at 37–42 weeks of pregnancy (term pregnancy) and aged over 18 years were selected for participation. Basic demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants including age, body mass index, weight gained during pregnancy, education level, occupation, parity, sex of baby, and exercise habits were collected from the medical chart and face-to-face interviews. Musculoskeletal pain sites were defined as hand–wrist, elbow, shoulder, neck, back, low back, hip, knee, and ankle–foot in a diagram of the human body. The interviews with participants were performed to assess their musculoskeletal pain separately at each trimester follow-up visit.Results:The most frequent musculoskeletal complaints during pregnancy were low back pain (n = 130, 70.7%), back pain (n = 80, 43.5%), hand–wrist (n = 61, 33.2%) and hip pain (n = 59, 32.1%). The participants experienced musculoskeletal pain most in the third trimester except for elbow, shoulder and neck pain compared with the first and second trimesters (p < 0.05).Conclusions:The results of the study suggest that numerous musculoskeletal problems may complicate pregnancy especially in the third trimester.

Leg cramps, its associated factors and quality of life among pregnant mothers: A cross-sectional study in a Malaysian suburban health clinic

“…In our study, a large proportion of pregnant women (71.7%) experienced LCs during this current pregnancy. This proportion was slightly lower than the reported study in Turkey (75%) (Kesikburun et al, 2018). Other international studies stated the following prevalences of LCs, i.e.…”

“…The prevalence of LCs in pregnancy ranges from 18.2% to 75%. The lowest prevalence was in Australia while the highest prevalence was in Turkey (Hall et al, 2016;Kesikburun et al, 2018). Pregnant mothers in their second or third trimesters are more affected (Ramachandra et al, 2015;Hensley, 2009).…”

Pregnancy-induced low back pain in Indian women: Prevalence, risk factors, and correlation with serum calcium levels

“…[1] A plethora of prospective and retrospective studies exist regarding the epidemiology of pregnancy-related back pain, and the prevalence ranges from 25% to 90%. [234567891011] Pregnancy-related LBP usually begins between the 20 th and the 28 th weeks of gestation, and the exact duration varies. [12]…”

Risk Factors For Pregnancy Related Low Back Pain

“…In our study, although there were some significant correlations between duration of pain and pre-partum maternal weight and between change in maternal BMI and gestational age at the onset of pain in the painful group, we found no difference between maternal height/weight, prepregnancy/pre-partum BMI, and change in maternal BMI and the development of low back pain between the painful and painless groups. On the other hand, although a previous study suggested that the male sex of the fetus may be a predictor factor for low back pain during pregnancy, numerous other studies implicated that there is no such association (3,17,18).…”

“…Moreover, low back pain often begins between the 20th and 28th weeks of gestation and the reported incidence of low back pain in pregnant women ranges between 14-90% (6,7). However, the mean incidence has been shown to be 25% in pregnant women, as compared to 6.3% in non-pregnant women of the same ages (1)(2)(3)(4). Most of the treatment methods used for low back pain cannot be used in pregnant women.…”