Quality of life in chronic musculoskeletal symptomatic Chilean population: secondary analysis of National Health Survey 2009–2010

Abstract

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is defined as the patient's perception of their health status. HRQoL can be modified by illnesses, treatments or social and health policies. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a modifying factor of HRQoL that leads to lower quality of life, elevated suffering and disability. Knowing HRQoL in subjects reporting chronic musculoskeletal symptoms (cMSS), like pain, discomfort or swollenness lasting more than 3 months, will provide information to health teams and organizations engaged in the Chilean health system. This study aim was to determine the relationship between HRQoL and musculoskeletal symptoms measured in three different Chilean groups: [1] without symptoms; [2] with acute symptoms; and [3] with cMSS. Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2009-10 Chilean National Health Survey (NHS) was executed to determine the relationship between HRQoL (measured with SF-12) in three MSS groups. The Chilean NHS considered a national, probabilistic, stratified and multistage sample of 5293 participants aged 15 and older; it was representative at the national, urban-rural and regional levels. A multivariate logistic regression model studied the relationship between cMSS and HRQoL, adjusted for age, sex, educational level and residence area as control variables (p < 0.05). Results: Out of 5293 participants in the NHS 2009-10, 5276 subjects were included for analysis. The median age was 46 years (IQR 31-60), 59.4% women, a median of 10 years formal education (IQR 7-12) and an urban residence in 85.2% of the population of the NHS 2009-10. The observed population prevalence of people with cMSS was 42.6% ). Presence of cMSS is a risk factor for low HRQoL, exhibited both in the physical (OR 3.1 95% CI 2.7-3.5) and mental (OR 1.9 95% CI 1.6-2,) HRQoL dimensions, independent of control variables. Conclusions: Physical and mental HRQoL are affected in people with cMSS, low educational level and advanced age. This is especially seen in women. This information will facilitate assessment and treatment of cMSS as a prevalent and multidimensional health problem.

Musculoskeletal Disorders Associated With Quality of Life and Body Composition in Urban and Rural Public School Teachers

“…MSDs have been an important factor associated with teachers' mental and physical health. Thus, our objective was to determine the association of MSD with QoL considering sociodemographic and body composition factors in urban and rural Chilean teachers; 89% of teachers presented pain in some part of the body, close to the highest pain prevalence of 95% found in teachers worldwide according to Erick and Smith (35) and is slightly higher than that reported by Solis-Soto in urban and rural Bolivian teachers at 86%, as well as being drastically higher than the prevalence in the general Chilean working population at 49.8% and the nationwide rate reported in the Chilean National Health Survey [(42.6%, (36)]. QoL evaluation in this study showed that differences exist between teachers with higher and lower PCS scores according to their number of painful MSD areas, a factor associated with the QoL PCS reported in previous studies (11).…”

“…Prior studies suggest that female gender is an MSD risk factor (36,37). In this sense, female gender could be contribute to reporting MCS in the present study.…”

Musculoskeletal Disorders and Quality of Life in Chilean Teachers: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In Chile, there are reports that 42.6% of the general working population has chronic work-related MSD, with symptoms presenting as risk factors strongly associated with low QoL scores, especially on the physical and mental health components ( 33 ). Therefore, the organizational context of teaching work in Chile and the world presents various physical and psychosocial deficiencies resulting in the presence of MSD and a concomitant deterioration in the mental and physical health of people.…”

“…Similarly, studies on the working population in the USA report high muscle pain prevalence related to low QoL scores ( 34 ); and studies on dockworkers in Brazil showed similar significantly lower scores on at least 5 of the 8 QoL scales on the SF-36 instrument among individuals with MSD ( 32 ). In the Chilean general population, people with chronic musculoskeletal pain have reported physical and mental QoL impacts, especially among women ( 33 ). Studies on the working population of Chilean teachers report high MSD prevalence in urban and rural teachers with significant QoL impact ( 35 ).…”

“…MSD are also associated with low QoL perception in various working groups worldwide ( 31 , 32 ), as well as in general population studies ( 33 , 34 ). Among teachers, those suffering from MSD have also reported low QoL scores, impacting their physical and mental health ( 20 , 35 , 36 ).…”