Is physical inactivity associated with musculoskeletal disorders?

Objectives: The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between musculoskeletal disorders (MD) and physical activity levels (PAL) in individuals. Methods: 125 individuals (74 female, 51 male) aged between 20-65 participated in the study. Extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to examine MD, International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to determine PAL. Results: The mean age of the cases was 31.56 +/- 7.09 years. It was found that individuals were 33.6% sufficiently active, 39.2% minimally active, 27.2% inactive. Body regions which were most commonly reported for experiencing pain, low back (51.2%), upper back (51.2%), neck (48.8%) at some point in their lifetime, neck (38.4%), upper back (35.2%), low back (35.2%) during the past 12 months, upper back (29.6%), neck (28.8%), low back (23.2%) in the past month, upper back (16.8%), shoulders (12.8%), neck and low back (11.2%) on the day of study. When MD during the past 12 months, in the past month, on the day of study were compared with PAL, statistically significant relation was found between knee pain and PAL (p=0.002, p=0.001, p=0.023, respectively). Conclusion: The results showed that musculoskeletal pain was more frequent in spine (low back, upper back, neck). When the presence of MD compared with PAL, statistically significant relation was found between knee pain and PAL. In our study, patients with knee pain had high PAL, this can be explained by, those who are physically active tend to experience sport related injuries than inactive individuals and anatomic feature of knee joint.