A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF THE PREVALENCE AND CONTRIBUTING RISK FACTORS OF NECK PAIN IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN...

Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal condition which is becoming more common in undergraduate students due to the modification in modern lifestyle, learning methods, and the use of electronic devices.

To assess the prevalence of neck pain and its associated factors among Baghdad undergraduate students.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed by means of a self-administered online questionnaire distributed among the undergraduate students in December 2023. GraphPad Prism was used to analyse data from 520 students.

The study involved 520 college students (198 males and 322 females). The overall prevalence of neck pain was 74.23% (95% CI: 70.30-77.80%), and it was higher in females (81.37%) than in males (62.63%). Statistically significant associations were found between neck pain and gender (p<0.0001), duration of electronic device use (p<0.0001), family history of neck pain (p<0.0001), age (p=0.0036), and study position (p=0.0127).

Neck pain prevalence was 74.23% among undergraduate students in Baghdad, with female gender, age, prolonged electronic device use, poor study posture, and family history found as significant associated factors. Despite the methodological limitations, the findings highlight the necessity for preventive strategies that focus on ergonomic education and performing future multi-institutional studies with multivariate analysis.