Prevalence and associated factors of musculoskeletal disorders among older adults living in Bahir Dar City Ethiopia cross-sectional study

A musculoskeletal disorder are injury or conditions that affect the body’s movement system, including muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and joints. It is the most prevalent public health concern affecting the quality of life, global disease burden, and health care costs of older adults. Prevalence and associated factors of MSD among older adults aged 60 years are unknown in Ethiopia. Knowing risk factors and the magnitude of MSDs helps the health policy makers to know the magnitude of MSD and its associated factors for their health policy plan. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of MSDs and their associated risk factors among older adults aged 60 and older in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia, among 636 older adults. Using the lottery method 50% of Kebele was selected. For each kebele, participants were proportionally allocated based on the number of older adults. Finally, participants were selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect data using a well-structured questionnaire adopted from the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and different literature. The data were entered into Epidata and analyzed using SPSS. Variables with a P-value < 0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. Finally, variables with an AOR, a 95% confidence interval, and a P-value of 0.05 were reported. A Total of 636 older adults, with a response rate of 97.3% (619), participated. The annual prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders among older adults was 72.1% (CI = 68.5–75.6%). Being female [AOR = 5.6, CI= (3.26–9.450)], divorced marital status [AOR = 4.7, CI= (2.10–10.40)] and widowed marital status [AOR = 2.2, CI= (1.17–4.05)], not being physically active [AOR = 4.4, CI (2.53–7.50)] and not having lifestyle modification [AOR = 3.4, CI=(1.86–6.11)] having depression [AOR = 3.5, CI, = (2.25–5.50)] were significant predictor of musculoskeletal disorder among older adults. The results of this study showed that MSD was prevalent in elderly persons over 60. In our study, sex, marital status, lifestyle modification, physical activity, and depression had a strong correlation with MSD among older adults. We recommend older adults have a supportive household member, be physically active, have lifestyle modifications, and minimize depression by a multidisciplinary team with mental health and social workers.