Neck Pain Among Medical Students in KSA After Applying Distance Education During COVID-19 Era
Author(s): Mohammed H. Karrar Alsharif*, Ali Hassan A. Ali, Abdullah A. Alghamdi, Yousef M. Alsomali, Khalid Z. Aljulaifi, Abdullah S. Alsayari, Hamoud M. Almubki and Fahad A. Alzahrani
Abstract
Background: Neck pain is progressively becoming a health issue with significant socioeconomic consequences for individuals, their families, and communities. Neck pain is a substantial source of sickness, reduced educational performance, and absenteeism from university classes, all of which have an impact on student's future careers. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design based on an electronic questionnaire for data collection. The study included a total of 449 college-level student participants. Around 262 (55%) participants were male, and 211 (45%) were female. In total, 53% of the students were from the private sector, and (82%) preferred the sitting position as their favorite study posture. Results: The prevalence of neck stiffness was high, and the overall impact was average, with students' mean score being 1.9 SD ±0.55. The females were more affected than the males, with a p-value of 0.015. over half of the students suffered from morning neck stiffness (53%), which varies from mild pain (34%), moderate (17%) and severe (2%). The pain was tolerable without using medications and did not significantly affect their quality of life. However, 20% of the students found it hard to study and do their daily activities without using meds. Conclusions: Our findings revealed a high preference for neck stiffness among medical students. Despite the fact that the majority can cope with the pain without medication, we cannot overlook 20% of the students who found it hard to study and do their daily activities without using meds and how it affected their quality of life.