Prevalence of Postural Changes and Musculoskeletal Disorders in Young Adults

Maria Paula Pacheco (), Paulo José Carvalho, Luís Cavalheiro and Filipa Manuel Sousa
Additional contact information
Maria Paula Pacheco: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
Paulo José Carvalho: Polytechnic Institute of Porto, School of Health, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Luís Cavalheiro: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
Filipa Manuel Sousa: Biomechanics Laboratory, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Postural changes are considered a public health problem, especially those that affect the spine, as they may predispose to degenerative conditions of the spine in adulthood. Musculoskeletal disorders are the main cause of chronic pain, illness, reduced educational performance, productivity, and quality of life, and are responsible for increased absenteeism, which could compromise the future career of students. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of postural changes and the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders in different anatomical regions in the 12 months prior and 7 days prior to the application of the questionnaire and the number of affected anatomical regions. Methods: This is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. It included 508 students selected by a stratified random sample. Our outcomes were the Portuguese version of the Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, the Adam’s test, a scoliometer, and the visual analog pain scale associated with the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Results: In total, 79.3% of the students tested positive with the Adam’s test. The neck, shoulder, lumbar region, and knee stood out in all of the temporal references, the 12 months prior (44.3%; 35.2%, 50.2%, 34.1%) and the 7 days prior (16.5%, 16.9%; 28.9%, 17.5%), and even in the restriction of activity due to painful symptoms in the 12 months prior (4.3%, 5.3%, 10.6%, 8.5%). Conclusions: Out of 497 students, 403 were identified with postural changes. The high prevalence rate of identified musculoskeletal symptoms in the anatomical regions of the neck, lumbar region, and shoulder raises the need for intervention in students. Gender appears to generate differences between men and women. Pain from multiple body sites is frequent among young adults.

Keywords: postural changes; young adults; musculoskeletal disorders; physiotherapy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/24/7191/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/24/7191/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:24:p:7191-:d:1301890

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().