Painful to be a female Saudi teacher (very low vitamin D)

Created March 2015

The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain & its associated factors among female Saudi school teachers.

Pak J Med Sci. 2014 Nov-Dec;30(6):1191-6. doi: 10.12669/pjms.306.5778.

Abdulmonem A1, Hanan A2, Elaf A3, Haneen T4, Jenan A5.

95 % return of distributed questionnaires to female teachers (pain might be a problem) 1. ||Pain – severe |Deficiency|OK level Neck |16%|8.6% Shoulder |29%| 13% Elbow |8.5%|1.4% Wrist |25%|10% Upper back | 25%|10% Lower back |50% |21% Hip joint|24%|7% Knee|38%|14% Ankle|18%|4% Heel| 32%|9%|| No definition in the study of deficiency, < 20 ng/ml? Neither of the words BLOOD or SERUM are in the PDF (no blood tests?) Neither of the words CLOTH or CLOTHING are in the PDF The study says 40% of teachers wake up at night due to musculoskeletal pain. The study does not mention pain for male teachers – who are NOT heavily clothed The study concludes by recommending “An appropriate exercise program” for the female teachers

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.

PMID: 25674106

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Painful to be a female Saudi teacher (very low vitamin D)

The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain & its associated factors among female Saudi school teachers.

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