Exploration of the Causes of Musculoskeletal Injuries of Different Age Groups in Local Society

Aims: To study the types of all possible injuries in different age groups and its prevalence in the Saudi society, especially in the city of Jeddah and its causes.

Study Design: A prospective study with a special questionnaire to collect data.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Radiology (X-ray Unit), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for 6 months.

Methodology: A questionnaire developed by the authors was used to collect data. The questionnaire had two parts. The first part was used to collect demographic data, and the second part was used to determine the type of injuries (trauma, motor vehicle accident, sudden and chronic). The subjects of the survey were chosen randomly from the radiology department at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH). Then, SPSS 15.0 for Windows was used for statistical analyses. Data are presented using descriptive statistics and were analyzed using the chi-squared test.

Results: The participants (subjects) were male (56.5%) and female (43.5%) that had a mean age of 28.98±1.09 years, a mean height of 148.02±1.55 cm, and a mean mass of 58.71±1.63 kg. The older adults were the majority (32.2%) in this study followed by pediatric (30.6%) where the immune is lower than the other age groups’ categories and is more affected by musculoskeletal injuries.

The common injuries of the different musculoskeletal system were explored and obtained. That the highest percentage is related to trauma (58.9%) in all age groups, where the dominant percentage in trauma was in the pediatric age group (27.6%).

Through our study, it was found that there is a high significant relationship (p < 0.05) with a degree of freedom is (df=12) between age groups and type of injuries for all genders.

Conclusion: More education needs to be provided for our community in preventing and limiting personal injury especially in younger age groups.