Musculoskeletal complains among menopausal women at musculoskeletal department of center for the rehabilitation of the paralyzed

Abstract

Introduction: The women around menopause are prone to musculoskeletal problem due to hormonal changes. The prevalence of musculoskeletal complain among menopausal women is estimated to be within 53.5% to 85%. The advancing age of postmenopausal women makes them more vulnerable toward musculoskeletal complain. Objective: The major objective of the study was to identify common musculoskeletal complains among menopausal women. The specific objective was to identify common musculoskeletal diagnosis in menopausal women, association between musculoskeletal complain and menopausal status, factor associated with severity of musculoskeletal pain. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 134 respondent of age range 40 to 60 years. The menopausal status was determined using STRAW. The semi-structured questionnaire adapted from Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire was used for collecting data. Results: The most common complain among respondent were LBP (39%), knee pain (22%), neck pain (16%) and shoulder pain (9%). Similarly, postmenopausal women also had same pattern of pain in low back, knee, neck and shoulder with prevalence of 37.7%, 24.6%, 14.8% and 11.5% respectively. The most common diagnosis was spondylosis for low back pain and neck pain, osteoarthritis for knee pain and frozen shoulder for shoulder pain. The musculoskeletal complain at different site of body was associated with osteoporosis risk, exercise status and sunlight exposure but was not associated with menopausal status. The obese women were more likely to have shoulder pain and knee pain. The severity of musculoskeletal pain was associated with comorbid condition, menopausal status, depressed mood due to pain. Conclusion: Although musculoskeletal complain in different part of body in menopausal women was not associated with menopausal status, the severity of pain increases with menopausal transition. The special attention should be given towards the menopausal status if the women is at this phase of midlife as menopausal status is associated with severity of pain Keywords: Menopause, Musculoskeletal complain, Menopausal status.