Abstract

MUSCULOSKELETAL PROBLEMS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN: A FACILITY BASED SURVEY IN ODISHA

Author(s):Yasobant S, Nibedita S, Saswata S, Arnansu M, Kirti S

Background: Chronic medical conditions are in focus for the development of strategies aimed at improving population health worldwide. This is also true for chronic pain conditions leading to impaired or non-existent ability to exercise, as physical inactivity is associated with the development of chronic diseases. Musculoskeletal disorders constitute an estimated 90% of all chronic pain, of which back pain contributes to a high extent. During the time of pregnancy many hormonal and anatomical changes that affect the musculoskeletal system in the female body, which may cause various musculoskeletal complaints, predispose to injury, or alter the course of pre-existing conditions. Though Obstetric physiotherapy is an essential part of maternal health care and promotion; still it is not well known in developing countries like India. So this current study aimed to address common musculoskeletal complaints arising among the women during prenatal period in Odisha. Methodology: A cross sectional study was designed in rural & urban area health facilities targeting the pregnant women of Odisha. Total of 410 pregnant women from selected facilities of two different regions of Odisha- Eastern (Urban) and Western (Rural) were interviewed with a structured validated questionnaire. Statistical analysis compared the independent variables of participants with Musculoskeletal Pain using independent sample t-test for continuous variables and chi-square for ordinal/nominal variables has been reported considering null hypothesis to be significant if p-value is <0.05 which is level of significance. Results: About half (50.7%) of the participants reported symptoms at least in one part of their bodies, over the pregnancy period. Among these, acute Low back pain was the highest of 55.6% and 35.4% of chronic, followed by acute ankle pain (25.9%) and knee pain (16.6%). Neck pain (4.9%), Shoulder pain (4.4%) were the least reported among all participants. The MSDs pain is more among the urban population (54.4%), compared to rural community (45.6%), which shows statistically significant with p-value of 0.003.Conclusion:Low back pain is the commonest of all, prevailing around more than half of subjects from our sample. A mixed research method strongly recommended to conduct, including both pre and post-natal period women, for generalizability and other facilities from all over the globe should be focused.

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