Age-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Associated with Sedentary Lifestyles among the Elderly

Increasing age has a tendency to enforce sedentary lifestyle on individuals. This study therefore investigated the age-related musculoskeletal disorders associated with sedentary lifestyles among the elderly.

One hundred and eighty two (100 females and 82 males) elderly subjects purposively selected from residential homes for older adults and selected churches in Lagos State participated in the study. Their heights and weights were measured and were assessed for sedentary lifestyles as well as the presence of musculoskeletal disorders using a 38-itemed questionnaire.

The mean age, height, and weight were 70.14 ± 8.62 years, 1.69 ± 0.11m and 70.12 ± 10.32kg respectively. The point prevalence of musculoskeletal pain/discomfort among respondents was 51.6% while the 12 months prevalence was 87.4%. The four most common areas of pain were the knee (31.9%), low back (25.3%), ankle (22.0%) and the upper back (20.9%). 6.6% of the respondents could not perform their daily activities in two weeks as a result of pain. 41.8% reported that the severity of pain they felt was moderate pain while 29.7% reported mild pain. About 142 (78.0%) respondents spent 15 minutes to 2 hours watching television on a week day. Many of the respondents had other forms of musculoskeletal discomforts due to sedentary lifestyles. There were significant relationships between sedentary activities and knee pain (p = 0.01), Low back pain (p = 0.02), Ankle pain (p = 0.03) and Upper back pain (p = 0.03).

The prevalence of age related musculoskeletal disorders associated with sedentary lifestyle in the elderly is high and are common in the lower limbs and back.