Abstract
Objectives: To quantify the prevalence and identify the associated factors of musculoskeletal pain among Saudi female school teachers. Methods: An observational quantitative cross-sectional survey of female Saudi school teachers in five different areas of Saudi Arabia was carried out between August and October 2013. A self-administered questionnaire was used in which the items related to participants’ demographic information and pain information were included. A numeric pain rating scale was used for patient self-reporting of pain. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS Pc+ version 21.0 statistical software. Results: Four hundred and eighty six female school teachers responded to the survey. Severe Low back pain was reported by 38.1% of teacher, followed by knee pain (26.3%), heel (24.1%), shoulder (20.6%), upper back (17.7%), hip joint (16.5%),ankle (12.3%), neck (11.3%). Sever pain of elbow (5.6%) and wrist (7.4%) was the least reported. Pain affected work at school in 46.1% of school teachers. A combination of variables: body mass index, Vitamin D deficiency, teaching level, presence of chronic illness, were found to be significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: The results of self-reported prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among female Saudi school teachers is useful to educate the school teachers for adequate care so as to prevent these pains. There is a need for the higher authorities to address this issue and implement intervention programs to alleviate the pain and suffering of these school teachers.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal pain is a very common subjective complaint among working individuals
The vitamin D-deficiency among female school teachers is highly statistically significantly associated with all the parts of musculoskeletal pain
The presence of feeling often anxious and feeling often bad mood among school teachers was statistically significantly associated with all part of musculoskeletal pain expect elbow and ankle parts not associated with the presence of bad mood.(Table-V)
Summary
Musculoskeletal pain is a very common subjective complaint among working individuals. Evidence suggests that low back pain was due to minimum work place support and low job satisfaction.[1] It is a global health issue resulting into chronic pain, functional impairment, frequent sick leaves and absences from work This equates with high economic-related implications burdened by less working hours, early retirement, less workforce and reduced productivity.[2,3]. Musculoskeletal pain ranks 6th (shoulder pain), 7th (neck pain) and 10th (low back pain) as the most frequently reported health complaints among school teachers. Among the reported areas of musculoskeletal pain among school teachers, the neck and shoulder,[6,7] low back and the upper limbs are the most frequent painful sites because of their improper posture and high work load.[7,8] Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain ranges from 40.4%4 to 69.3%.5 Among the reported areas of musculoskeletal pain among school teachers, the neck and shoulder,[6,7] low back and the upper limbs are the most frequent painful sites because of their improper posture and high work load.[7,8]
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