Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in southeastern Iran: a WHO-ILAR COPCORD study (stage 1, urban study)

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints and rheumatic diseases in southeast of Iran.

Subjects were selected based on a cluster sampling from 20 districts of urban areas in Zahedan, Iran. Subjects 15 years old and over were randomly selected and interviewed by trained interviewers in their houses. The Community Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Disease (COPCORD) and Core Questionnaire (CCQ) were used in this study. The people with musculoskeletal complaints (pain, stiffness and swelling) were examined by the rheumatologist. Laboratory tests and radiographic exams were carried out when necessary to further categorize diagnoses.

Data were collected from October 10, 2008 to September 15, 2009. Two thousand and one hundred subjects including 921 (43.9%) males and 1179 (56.1%) females were interviewed. The average age of the population was 33.1 ± 14.7 years. The prevalence of complaints within the past 7 days prior to the interview was 54.13%. The most common sites of complaint were as follows: knee (30.59%), dorsolumbar (28.83%), shoulder (22.26%) and neck (17.07%). The most common rheumatic diseases were osteoarthritis and low back pain with the prevalence of 18.66% and 17.71%, respectively. Finally, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was 0.98%.

Musculoskeletal complaints are highly common in southeast Iran. Knee and low back pain were the most common sites of complaints. The most frequent diagnosed diseases were osteoarthritis of knee followed by low back pain and soft tissue rheumatism. Rheumatoid arthritis was the most prevalent inflammatory disease.