Musculoskeletal pain in college students: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: To date, there is no systematic study focused on posture-related musculoskeletal pain in college students. Objective: Summarize the evidence of musculoskeletal pain in college students. Eligible criteria: Year of publication between 2015 and 2020, observational studies published in English, full text available, and analysis of the presence of musculoskeletal pain in college students. MESH terms and Boolean operators used for the search were pain AND musculoskeletal AND college students. Data sources: Databases used were PubMed, ClinicalKey, ProQuest, ResearchGate, and ScienceDirect. Results: A total of 318 records were identified out of which 296 were excluded, and only 22 were included for analysis. The majority of the records involved college students form the general population, while five involved dental students and five, health science students. The majority of the records involved a setting in which the student was in a constant sitting position, only two involved a dental setting, and one involved a laboratory setting. Conclusions: The most reported sites of pain were neck, shoulders, and upper and lower back.

Musculoskeletal Pain in Undergraduate Students Is Significantly Associated with Psychological Distress and Poor Sleep Quality

“…In terms of the prevalence of MSKP, the findings of the current study are coherent with those of a recent systematic review that found similar MSKP prevalence among university students in the past 12 months and 7 days as well as found neck pain and low back pain to be the most common sites of pain [ 2 ]. Similarly, in a recent study from Saudi Arabia that included undergraduate dental students, neck pain and low back pain were found to be the most prevalent sites of MSKP.…”

“…Musculoskeletal pain (MSKP), defined as any pain or discomfort that affects bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, or muscles, can be caused by poor body ergonomics or certain repetitive movements [ 1 , 2 ]. MSKP affects all age groups, gender, and low- and high-income communities.…”

“…University students worldwide have a sedentary lifestyle, spending an average of 10 h/day being sedentary [ 6 ]. A sedentary lifestyle predisposes to MSKP, and unsurprisingly, MSKP is common among university students [ 2 ]. Young adult undergraduate students also commonly suffer from sleep deprivation [ 7 ], and sleep deprivation has extensively been reported to aggravate MSKP as well as increase mental health-related risks [ 8 ].…”