Joint pain within adult middle-aged women, attending a community clinic in a peri-urban area in South Africa: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of joint pain in women between the ages of 40 and 64 years who attended a community clinic in the Free State to provide micro-information for health care planners.

Methods: A sample of convenience was utilized in the cross-sectional survey. Health care workers were recruited to conduct the survey. Outcome measures included the Community-Oriented-Programme-For-The-Control-Of-Rheumatic-Disease questionnaire and European Quality of Life – 5 Dimensions health related quality of life measure. Descriptive statistics were calculated for categorical data and non-parametric tests for ordinal data. Quality Adjusted Life Years lost were based on the preference weights generated by the European Quality of Life – 5 Dimensions.

Results: One thousand three hundred seventy-six participants were enrolled. The prevalence of joint pain experienced in either the short or the long term was 62.1% (CI 59.5–64.6%). The total number of Quality Adjusted Life Years lost in this sample was 41.4, that is a rate of 3008.7 (CI 2740-3310) per 100,000.

Conclusion: Epidemiological transition seems to be rapidly taking place in South Africa and the prevalence of joint pain is considerable. Primary health care systems should develop a cost-effective approach to manage and identify joint pain and improve the health-related quality of life of those living with this.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Prevalence of joint pain is considerable.

• Consume large amounts of health and social resources.

• A protocol for routine screening should be developed in community clinics.

• Cost-effective approach to manage joint pain should be identified to improve healthrelated quality of life of individuals living with joint pain.

Keywords:

• Joint pain
• prevalence
• European Quality of Life – 5 Dimensions health related quality of life measure
• Community-Oriented-Programme-For-The-Control-Of-Rheumatic-Disease questionnaire
• quality adjusted life years

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by National Research Foundation: Thuthuka grant (TTK14051167102) and Sabbatical grant (SGD150507117812).