Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in farmers: Case study in Sila, Muang Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen province

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the common health problems, especially the farmers who usually work long hours in bending forward of trunk. This can be high risk for having back injury. The knowledge of prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is important information and can provide a potential practical guidance to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in farmer; a case study in Sila, Muang Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen Province. Three hundred and eleven farmers who live in Sila district, aged between 20 – 75 years, participated in this study. The participants were asked to fill out the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire in Thai version in 3 villages of Sila district. This study found that the top four of the most prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in seven days were lower back pain (56.91 %, 95% CI: 51.37-62.44), knee pain (28.62 %, 95% CI: 23.36-33.66), hip pain (25.40 %, 95% CI: 20.53-30.26) and shoulder pain (25.08 %, 95% CI: 20.23-29.92), respectively. The top four of the most prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in twelve months were lower back pain (73.31 %, 95% CI: 68.36-78.25), hip pain (41.16 %, 95% CI: 35.65-46.65), shoulder pain (36.01 %, 95% CI: 30.64-41.37) and knee pain (35.37 %, 95% CI: 30.02-40.71), respectively. These findings of the study demonstrated that low back pain was the most frequent problem that was found in the farmers. Therefore, it would be worth to further study on the development of health promotion and prevention program for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.