ABSTRACT
Background: Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) represent an important issue among the adult and adolescent population. Several studies have been carried out on the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain /disorders among various occupational groups. There have also been studies on the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among medical science students, students in general and even children. Agricultural students engage in labor-intensive activities which could predispose them work-related MSP. Yet there is a dearth of studies on the prevalence of MSP among Agricultural students.
Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain among students of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin.
Methods: Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants who were in the 300, 400 and 500 level class between the age range of 18-36 years, based on their exposure to farm practical training. The instruments used were: An adapted version of the Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire and the Ovako Work Posture Assessment System, distributed to 300 Faculty of Agriculture students from the various departments. Descriptive (mean, standard deviation and percentage) and inferential statistics of Chi square and Spearman’s correlation were used to summarize the data. Alpha level was 0.05.
Results: The 12 month and 7-day prevalence of musculoskeletal pain at one or more regions of the body was 274(91.3%) and 171(57%) respectively. The most prevalent musculoskeletal symptom in terms of 12 month prevalence was low back pain 210(70%), shoulder pain 204(68.0%) and neck pain 198(66.0%). When compared with males, female students reported a high percentage in all three body regions. There was a significant association between the department of the respondents and the 7-days prevalence of neck pain and 12 months prevalence of low back pain.
Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of WRMSP among agricultural students in one or more body region. The regions majorly affected are the low back, shoulder and neck. The students of the department of soil science and crop science reported the highest prevalence of neck pain and low back pain respectively.
