Prevalence of neck pain in a rural community in Northwest Nigeria

Abstract

Neck pain (NP) is a common health problem which exerts significant stress on physical functioning, work,  productivity and health costs. However, there is a dearth of published studies on community prevalence of  neck pain in rural communities in Nigeria. This study aimed at finding out the prevalence of NP among people living in Kura Local Government area in Kano State, Northwest Nigeria. Information obtained from 305  participants included socio-demographic characteristics and analysis of neck pain, using a bio data form and standardized Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ). The lifetime, one-year and point prevalence of neck pain in the study population were 67.9%, 65.9% and 17.0% respectively. Male gender (OR=0.325,  CI=0.16-0.67), being married (OR=0.308, CI= 0.103-0.920) and being a secondary school certificate holder (OR=0.340, CI= 0.192-0.602) were important risk factors for neck pain when socio-demographic variables were adjusted for one another. Prevalence of Neck pain is high in this study population. The likelihood of having NP was higher among males, secondary school certificate holders and married individuals. Further research is
warranted on ergonomic risk factors for the development of NP in these settings.