Health, 2022, 14, 931-938
https://www.scirp.org/journal/health
ISSN Online: 1949-5005
ISSN Print: 1949-4998
DOI: 10.4236/health.2022.149066 Sep. 7, 2022 931 Health
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Back Pain
among Medical Students in Sudan
Shahda Shms Eldeen Khlf Alla Ahmed
1
, Ragda Kabashy Mohammed Bahar
1
,
Lana Alsiddig Mohamed Ahmed
1
, Aisha Ali Elameen Abbas
1
, Eiman Siddig Abd Elhadi Ahmed
1
,
Ruba Jabir Abdallah Seedahmed
1
, Shahd Yousif Hajomer Abdelgader
1
,
Arwa Ahmed Alhussain Ahmed
1
, Khalid Elfadil Ibrahim Husein
2
1
Faculty of Medicine, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman, Sudan
2
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman, Sudan
Abstract
Background: Back pain affects old and young adults, and it is a common
complain among medical students. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of
back pain and associated factors among medical students in Sudan. Method:
An observational multi-universal cross-sectional study was conducted from
December 2021 to February 2022, involving 433 medical students selected by
simple random sampling. Data were collected by electronic Google Form
questionnaire designed to assess demographic features, back pain characteris-
tics, and triggering factors. Data analysis was done by statistical package for
social sciences. Result: The prevalence of back pain among medical students
in Sudan is 69.3%, with a statistically insignificant difference between pre-
clinical and clinical students (p value: 0.378), and between male and female
students (p value: 0.826). The lower back is the commonest site of pain (75%).
The majority of the students experience moderate pain (53.9%). They did not
use medications (81%). Sitting for long hours is the most common trigger
(87.9%) and the pain did not interfere with the daily activities (71%). Con-
clusion: Back pain is a common complain among medical students in Sudan.
Medical schools should raise the awareness of the students about back pain.
Keywords
Back Pain, Medical Students, Medical School, Sudan
1. Introduction
Back pain affects older and younger adults, and it is a common complain among
students [1]. In a comprehensive search of all accessible bibliographic databases, the
How to cite this paper: Ahmed, S.S.E.K.A.,
Bahar, R.K.M., Ahmed, L.A.M., Abbas,
A.A.E., Ahmed, E.S.A.E., Seedahmed, R.J.A.,
Abdelgader, S.Y.H., Ahmed, A.A.A. and
Husein, K.E.I. (2022) Prevalence and Asso-
ciated Factors of Back Pain among Medical
Students in Sudan. Health, 14, 931-938.
https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2022.149066
Received: July 15, 2022
Accepted: September 4, 2022
Published: September 7, 2022
Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access