1Dept. of Physiotherapy, Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal, India
2Dept. of Physiotherapy, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore
* Address for correspondence: Mrs. Parul Raj Lecturer Department of Physiotherapy, MCOAHS, Manipal-576104 (India) Email: parulmahe@gmail.com Institutional Ethical Committee Approval obtained on October-2007
Online published on 1 December, 2011.
To compare the musculoskeletal symptoms in adult female primary caregivers of physically challenged children with that of normal children.
30 caregivers (18–40Yrs) of physically challenged children (1–5 Yrs) and 30 caregivers of normal children of same age group were selected through convenient sampling method. Nordic Questionnaire was administered to each group. Data analysis done using Mann-Whitney U test and Student unpaired t-test to compare the mean difference between the groups.
Caregivers of physically challenged children developed musculoskeletal symptoms (93%) compared to that of normal children (60%)(p=0.002). Among all musculoskeletal symptoms, Low Back trouble (a/c Nordic questionnaire) was most Common (76.7%) in caregivers of challenged children (P =0.008), the next commonly involved part was shoulder (36.7%).
Our study concluded that female caregivers of physically challenged children had higher rate of musculoskeletal symptoms as compared to normal. Therefore it is suggested that caregivers must adapt measures to prevent musculoskeletal symptoms.
