• Landman DM
• Tagari MY

• COVID-19
• Musculoskeletal Diseases / epidemiology
• Open Access Document
• Posture
• Sedentary Behavior
• Students, Health Occupations

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the onset and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in undergraduate students from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Johannesburg during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This was an explorative cross-sectional survey. The sample consisted of 106 Faculty of Health Sciences students recruited through 4 departments. The study was conducted through Google Forms and made use of a questionnaire that was adapted from 2 existing questionnaires, namely “Physical Activity and Sedentary Lifestyle in University Students: Changes During Confinement Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic” and “Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ).” Variables that were tested included dietary changes, habitual and activity changes, perceived MSK health before COVID-19 and during COVID-19 restrictions, and the development and regional distribution of MSD. Data were analyzed using frequency tables for single-response questions, custom tables for multiple responses and Likert-type questions, summary statistics to analyze continuous variables, and paired samples t tests to analyze statistically significant differences in MSK health before and during the COVID-19 lockdown periods.

Results: Prior to the implementation of the institutional academic restrictions, 33.0% of respondents reported having no MSD, while 67.0% reported already having had an MSD present. The prevalence of new MSD in descending order by region were back (78.3%), neck (71.7%), head (41.5%), lower limb (27.4%), pelvis and perineum (20.8%), thorax/ chest (12.3%), abdomen (12.3%), and upper limb (11.3%). Of these new-onset MSD, 11.3% were induced by physical trauma, while 76.4% were not from any form of physical trauma. Of the 106 participants, 28 stated that their MSK health deteriorated over the 2 compared points in time, 18 remained unchanged, and 60 showed improvement in MSK health.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that even though students had MSD before the pandemic lockdown restrictions, new conditions were recorded as developing during the restricted period. Complaints of new-onset back, neck, and head pain were reported the most, although overall, MSK health appeared to have improved.

Author keywords: COVID-19; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Students, Health Occupations; Health; Sedentary Behavior; Posture

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