[Prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in adulthood and adolescence (survey conducted in the Southern Transdanubian region in a representative sample of 10.000 people].
The time period between 2000-2010 has been declared the "bone and joint decade" by the World Health Organisation. Throughout this time the international scientific interest focuses mainly on the muskuloskeletal diseases: epidemiology, preventive and therapeutic measures.


OBJECTIVE
Joining this international effort authors aim was to define the prevalence of the musculoskeletal symptoms and the general musculoskeletal state of health of a representative sample in the hungarian population.


METHODS
Obtaining data from the Central Office of Statistics, a sample of 10 thousand people living in the South Transdanubian Region aged between 14-65 years was selected. The sample was representative concerning age, employment and municipal structure. A survey was performed by asking the people to fill out a questionnaire made by the authors, which consisted of questions focusing on musculoskeletal symptoms, and the Short Form-36 questionnaire.


RESULTS
Based on questionnaire data, approximate prevalence values of the different musculoskeletal complaints were obtained. Thus, the prevalence of low back pain was 44.1%, hip pain occurred in 22.2%, knee pain in 30.3%, and ankle pain in 9.7% in the observed population.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with the international data, authors conclude that the prevalence of the musculoskeletal symptoms: low back pain, hip and knee pain is superior in the observed sample. Based on the results of the Short Form-36 questionnaire it seems that in the majority of the examined parameters the state of health is worse in the Southern Transdanubian population compared to the Western European and the North American Populations.
Horváth
Gábor
G
Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Altalános Orvostudományi Kar, Ortopédiai Klinika, Pécs.
Than
Péter
P
Bellyei
Arpád
A
Kránics
János
J
Illés
Tamás
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D007717:Knee; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires