OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this initial study is to analyze the validity and dependability of the Malay translation of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire.
METHODS: The questionnaire was self-administered two times, with an interval of two weeks in order to evaluate the accuracy of the original findings with a retest. The study involved 115 participants.
RESULTS: The range of Cronbach Alpha coefficient showed a considerable consistency of the items for each sub-scale (Cronbach's a > 0.95). The range of Kappa coefficients was between (ICC = 0.690-0.949, p
OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this paper is to introduce an exercise training program designed to decrease muscle stiffness and pain that can be performed in the office setting.
METHODS: Forty healthy office workers (age: 28±5.3 years old; body mass: 87.2±10.2 kg; height: 1.79±0.15 m) apart from suffering from any sub-clinical symptoms of muscle and joint stiffness, and who had at least two years of experience in office work were chosen and randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 20) or a control group (n = 20). The experimental group performed the exercise training program three times a week for 11 weeks. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was used to measure the pain levels in the neck, shoulders, and lower back areas. The Borg CR-10 Scale was used to measure their perceived exertion when doing the exercises, and a goniometer was used to measure the changes in range of motion (ROM) of the neck, hips, knees, and shoulders.
RESULTS: The overall results indicated that the exercise program could significantly (p pains of the participants in the exercise group while those in the control group showed no improvement in those pains. There were significant (p pains, but also can improve the ROM or flexibility of the office workers.
Methods: A prospective cohort study involving different populations within the Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra, India was conducted through camps organised from May 2009 to October 2015. A total of 568 serum samples were collected from high-risk people recruited as study cohorts based on inclusion criteria, additional risk factors and clinical symptoms. Samples were evaluated by indirect ELISA using the whole-cell antigens of B. abortus. The results were compared with the commercially available IgG detection ELISA kit to ascertain the specificity and sensitivity of the developed test.
Results: Fever, body ache, joint pain, lower back pain, loss of appetite and weight loss were major symptoms associated with the disease. With the cut-off of > 0.8, the positivity of brucellosis infection was at 12.32% (70/568) compared to 9.33% (53/568) as detected by the commercial kit. The in-house developed ELISA method yielded a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 99.18% as compared to the commercial kits (sensitivity -80.30% and specificity -99.6%).
Discussion: The B. abortus S19-derived whole-cell protein-based ELISA is rapid and cost-effective and can be used for screening brucellosis infection in lieu of the commercially available ELISA kits.
METHODS: An open-label study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the addition of 1.5 mcg/kg intranasal fentanyl to 2 mg/kg intravenous tramadol (fentanyl + tramadol arm, n = 10) as compared to the administration of 2 mg/kg intravenous tramadol alone (tramadol-only arm, n = 10) in adult patients with moderate to severe pain due to acute musculoskeletal injuries.
RESULTS: When analysed using the independent t-test, the difference between the mean visual analogue scale scores pre-intervention and ten minutes post-intervention was 29.8 ± 8.4 mm in the fentanyl + tramadol arm and 19.6 ± 9.7 mm in the tramadol-only arm (t[18] = 2.515, p = 0.022, 95% confidence interval 1.68-18.72 mm). A statistically significant, albeit transient, reduction in the ten-minute post-intervention mean arterial pressure was noted in the fentanyl + tramadol arm as compared to the tramadol-only arm (13.35 mmHg vs. 7.65 mmHg; using Mann-Whitney U test with U-value 21.5, p = 0.029, r = 0.48). There was a higher incidence of transient dizziness ten minutes after intervention among the patients in the fentanyl + tramadol arm.
CONCLUSION: Although effective, intranasal fentanyl may not be appropriate for routine use in adult patients, as it could result in a significant reduction in blood pressure.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of self-reported low back pain (LBP), and neck and/or shoulder pain (NSP) among secondary school teachers; and to evaluate the association of LBP and NSP with psychological distress and work-related psychosocial factors.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among teachers in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The participants were recruited via a two stage sampling method. Information on demographic, psychological distress, work-related psychosocial factors, and musculoskeletal pain (LBP and NSP) in the past 12 months was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Poisson regression was used to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) for the associations between psychological distress and work-related psychosocial factors with LBP and NSP.
RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported LBP and NSP among 1482 teachers in the past 12 months was 48.0% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 45.2%, 50.9%) and 60.1% (95% CI 57.4%, 62.9%) respectively. From the multivariate analysis, self-reported LBP was associated with teachers who reported severe to extremely severe depression (PR: 1.71, 95% CI 1.25, 2.32), severe to extremely severe anxiety (1.46, 95% CI 1.22, 1.75), high psychological job demand (1.29, 95% CI 1.06, 1.57), low skill discretion (1.28, 95% CI 1.13, 1.47) and poorer mental health (0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99). Self-reported NSP was associated with mild to moderate anxiety (1.18, 95% CI 1.06, 1.33), severe to extremely severe anxiety (1.25, 95% CI 1.09, 1.43), low supervisory support (1.13, 95% CI 1.03, 1.25) and poorer mental health (0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99).
CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported LBP and NSP were common among secondary school teachers. Interventions targeting psychological distress and work-related psychosocial characteristics may reduce musculoskeletal pain among school teachers.
Method: This investigation comprises a cross-sectional descriptive study of all patients visiting two primary care clinics aged 18 years and above. Patients presenting with joint pain answered a questionnaire assessing demographic data, disabilities (measured by the Stanford HAQ-DI), and treatment options.
Results: Of 1,074 patients surveyed, 202 (18.8%) had MSK complaints. The mean age of those with MSK pain was 56.1 years. Incidence increased with age, reaching 78.8% of those over 48 years of age. The knee was the most common site of MSK pain (52.2%), with 20.3% requiring referral for specialist assessment. The median HAQ score was 0.375 and 89.6% of those surveyed had mild disability.
Conclusion: MSK pain is a common problem among patients visiting primary care clinics. The most common site of MSK pain was the knee. On formal assessment, the majority of these patients exhibited mild disability. A significant proportion of patients still required specialist referral. This finding would suggest a need for further training on the management of MSK disease at the primary care level to avoid over-burdening the secondary care services.