THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS WITH MUSCULOSKELETAL SYMPTOMS AMONG SELECT GROUP OF FILIPINO PHYSICAL THERAPY STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Studies that suggested a link between depression, anxiety, stress (DAS) and musculoskeletal symptoms (MSKS) were limited to those conducted prior to the pandemic. This study was conducted during blended learning and determined the prevalence of DAS and MSKS among undergraduate physical therapy students (UPTS), the influence of sex and year level to the severity of DAS and MSKS, and the correlation between DAS and MSKS. Methods: This online cross-sectional survey collected information about the sex and year level of the respondents, and used Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (SNMQ) to determine the level of DAS and the number of MSKS, respectively. Non-proportional, consecutive sampling was used to recruit enrolled regular UPTS from participating schools in Region IV-A. Data analyses were done using descriptive and inferential statistics, with alpha set at 0.05. Results: Of the 249 respondents consisting of primarily female and third-year students, 65.29%, 68.45%, and 69.62% have reported DAS, respectively. Anxiety (r=0.30) and stress (r=0.29) have statistically significant weak positive correlation with MSKS. DASS-21 and SNMQ scores were not affected by the sex and year level of the respondents. Discussion: DAS is prevalent in the selected group of UPTS in Region IV-A. The researchers were unable to establish a strong link between DAS and MSKS. This might have been primarily due to sampling bias introduced by the sampling method employed and the limited number of participating schools. The researchers recommend the use of randomized sampling, subgroup analysis, and involving more schools to verify the results obtained in this study.