Article Text
Abstract
Objective: To assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among the major ethnic minority populations of Greater Manchester.
Method: The study group was a community sample of 2117 adults from the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and African Caribbean communities. Questionnaires administered by post and by an interviewer were used to assess the presence of any musculoskeletal pain, pain in specific joints, and the level of physical function. Ethnicity was self assigned. The results were compared with those from a recent study in the local white population using the same methodology.
Results: Overall response rate was 75% among the south Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi community and 47% among the African Caribbean community. The profile of musculoskeletal pain among the ethnic minority groups differed from that in the white population. Although musculoskeletal symptoms were slightly more prevalent among people from ethnic minority groups than among the white population, pain in multiple sites was considerably more common among ethnic minorities.
Conclusions: The finding that musculoskeletal pain is more widespread among ethnic minority communities in the UK has not previously been reported. This may reflect social, cultural, and psychological differences. The cause of the differences in the profile of pain and the health needs that follow need further investigation.
- musculoskeletal pain
- pain
- ethnicity
- joint pain
- mHAQ
- modified Health Assessment Questionnaire
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Footnotes
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TA had the original idea for the project, secured funding, gained ethical approval, and was the overall project leader. TA, DS, TB, AR, MR, and MU developed the methodology in the light of previous work and PH refined the methodology for the African Caribbean population. TA, TB, PH, and MU participated in data collection and analysis under the supervision of DS, AR, and MR. All authors contributed to the final version of the paper.
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Work included in this paper is to be submitted to the University of Cambridge by TA for the degree of MD.