Prevalence of Iliotibial Band Syndrome among Prolonged Standing Sales Workers in Quetta, Pakistan

Background: Prolonged standing at work daily may have harmful effects on one’s health, as seen in sales workers. Standing for more than 6 hours causes tightness in the lower limb muscles, one of which is ITB, which is a strong, non-elastic fibrous protein that spans multiple joints and is often referred to as a polyarticular muscle in recent studies. Objective: To determine the prevalence of iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) among prolonged standing sales workers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among sales workers in the age group 20-40 years. Data from 265 sales workers were collected from the three shopping malls situated in Quetta. Informed Consent was taken before recording the data of sales workers who stood for 6 or more hours a day. A self-generated questionnaire was used to collect demographic data. Renne’s test was performed to examine the tightness of ITB, and pain intensity was measured by using NPRS. Results: Results showed the prevalence of ITBS was 27.5% positive, including 60% males and 40% females, while 72.5 % were negative. About 62.64% of sales workers were standing for 7 hours, 27.55% for 6 hours, and only 9.81% for 5 hours. Statistical significance of Renne’s test was (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of ITBS among sales workers was higher in males than females. Standing for more than 6 hours daily has a major impact on its occurrence. According to this study, those who stood for more than six hours a day had 27.55% prevalence of ITBS. It will be beneficial to implement brief breaks during standing hours to enhance the productivity of sale workers.