Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain in Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Brett Gerstman

doi:10.4172/2329-9096.s5-008

Abstract

Purpose: The goal of our study was to assess the prevalence of specific musculoskeletal pain complaints in patients with developmental disabilities and how they compare to the general population. Method: A retrospective chart review was conducted at an outpatient hospital based primary care office serving patients with developmental disabilities in Northern New Jersey Results: Results showed an overall prevalence of 17.02% of musculoskeletal complaints in this population. This is similar to their peers without developmental disabilities. Of the patients seen, those with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy had the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. Low back and knee pain were the most common complaints. Females were noted to be more than two times likely than males to have musculoskeletal pain, but no significant difference was found between age groups. Conclusions: We concluded that individuals with developmental diseases require equal vigilance for musculoskeletal pain because of similar prevalence as the general population and likelihood of communication deficits with intellectual disabilities

Highlights

Musculoskeletal pain plays a substantial role in individual’s lives and causes impaired function
The goal of our study was to assess the prevalence of specific musculoskeletal pain complaints in patients with developmental disabilities living in the community and how they compare to the general population
Patients were grouped in specific age categories for simplicity of data analysis and ease in comparison to previously published studies examining the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the general population [7,8,9,10,11,12]

Summary

Introduction

Musculoskeletal pain plays a substantial role in individual’s lives and causes impaired function. Thirteen percent of workers have experienced lost productive time from common pain conditions costing an estimated $61.2 billion [1]. People with all forms of musculoskeletal conditions result in a total medical care expenditure of $240 billion [3]. Incidence of musculoskeletal pain is growing at an alarming rate. A study from the northwest region of England revealed prevalence increase of 2 to 4 folds between the 1950’s and 1990’s [6]. These disorders and complaints have become a public health issue due to its impact on disability [7,8]

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Results

Conclusion