ABSTRACT

Objective: Evaluate the extent, severity and treatment of patients with Musculoskeletal disorders & determine the prevalence of Osteoarthritis, pain in back, Fibro myalgia, gout, Rheumatoid arthritis& other Non-inflammatory and Inflammatory rheumatic diseases in rural areas of Pakistan.

Methods: This research was carried out in the rural communities near Sahiwal, which are considered to be a fairly representative sample of rural population. Data was collected and diagnosed using the guidelines of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) using a personal questionnaire from the Community Rheumatic Disease Control Program (COPCORD).

Results: 400 adults (over 15 years of age) were involved during the 18 months of the study. A total of 70 patients developed musculoskeletal pain (M =28, F= 42). Women had a higher frequency of new issues than men (chi squared=23.16, p<0.001), and the married people in the study was 74.5 percent. By profession, 22.0% were housewives, 10.3% of workers, 17% were businessman, 18.0% of service providers, and 4.8% of farmers.  The number of Rheumatic diseases has risen between middle-aged people. In the 15–24-year-old category, it was 9.8 percent. The measures were 29 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively, for 35-44 years old and 45-54 years old. 14.7 percent were those over the age of 65. The occurrence of rheumatic symptoms per year was substantially different among middle-aged, young and elderly people (p<0.05).  Also prevalent among housewives was occupational rheumatic disease, with an annual incidence of 24.4 per 100 persons. The number of rheumatic disorders among workers was 10.0%, 4.3% for service providers and 8.6% for business man. The functional disabilities among patients are spine issues in 11.1%, Knee problems in 9.9%, shoulder 9.5%, Elbow in 6.1%, Neck issues in 8.9% and wrist and hand disability in 4.9 and 3.8% respectively. 14.1% of the males have rheumatic disorders and 20.8% among females which shows higher incidence among females.

Conclusions: Rheumatic disease is common in rural areas of Pakistan and affects nearly a quarter of adults. Fibromyalgia, Non-specific low back pain& knee Osteoarthritis are collective joint diseases. Occurrence calculations for the utmost common diagnosis were similar to other social studies via the COPCORD method.

Keywords: Rheumatic diseases, Epidemiology study, Pakistan and rural community.