Prevalence, co-occurrence, and predictive factors for musculoskeletal pain among shellfish gatherers

Abstract

The aims of this study are to determine prevalence and co-occurrence of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) among shellfish gatherers and its consequences for the use of medicine, health care, and sickness leave and to investigate predictive factors (sociodemographic, lifestyle, comorbidity) of MSP in five anatomical areas (neck/shoulder/higher back, lower back, elbow/wrist/hand, hip/knee, and leg/ankle/foot). Nine hundred twenty-nine shellfish gatherers (94% women) voluntarily took part in a physiotherapy workshop. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess MSP and its consequences. Regression models were performed to determine the factors predicting the presence of MSP. The two most frequently self-reported forms of MSP were neck pain (70.9%) and lower back pain (65.5%). Sixty-four percent of respondents reported contact with their family doctor during the last 12 months due to MSP, and most subjects (88.1%) reported MSP in two or more locations. Hip/knee pain was associated with leg/ankle/foot pain (crude odds ratio = 3.14). Logistic regression analysis showed that being female and young is associated with lumbar pain, and being older is associated with pain in all areas of the lower limbs. The number of pain sites a person reported significantly predicted the presence of pain in all the anatomical areas studied. Prevalence of MSP and musculoskeletal comorbidity were high. The study shows that the presence of pain reported in one body area is highly dependent on the total number of painful areas. These findings are consistent with those of similar studies.

Fatores associados com os distúrbios musculoesqueléticos em pescadoras artesanais/marisqueiras em Saubara, Bahia, Brasil

“…In the study by Rodriguez-Romero et al 2 and in the present study, no statistically significant associations were found between MSDs in the upper limbs and smoking and upper limb MSDs with physical activity.…”

“…Among shellfish gatherers in Galicia, rheumatic disorders were among the most reported comorbidities (17.2%), but an association with MSDs in the upper limbs was not found 2 . As the study considered all rheumatic diseases (degenerative or inflammatory joint diseases), this result cannot be compared with that found in Saubara for rheumatoid arthritis.…”

“…The symptoms related to MSDs have already been reported in shellfish gatherers 2,17,18 , fisherwomen 19 and workers in the fishing industry 20,21 .…”

“…There are few epidemiological studies in the literature that associate the work process with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in artisanal fisherwomen 1 . Although a study with shellfish gatherers indicates an association with MSDs, the authors did not make it clear if the analysis was performed with informal workers 2 .…”

Quality of life impact related to foot health in a sample of sea workers

“…People working at sea show a marked presence of musculoskeletal pain in diverse anatomical regions [1,2], this being recognised by the governments as an important threat to public health due to its negative impact on the individual and on society [3]. Despite this, no studies have been carried out so far to analyse the quality of life related to foot health in these professionals.…”