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Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases in Cuenca, Ecuador: a WHO-ILAR COPCORD study

  • Epidemiology of RMD
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and rheumatic diseases in subjects over 18 years of age from the canton of Cuenca, Ecuador. Cross-sectional analytical community-based study was conducted in subjects over 18 years of age using the validated Community-Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD) questionnaire. Random sampling was used. The questionnaire was administered by standardized health workers. Subjects were visited house by house. Subjects positive for musculoskeletal (MSK) pain in the last 7 days and at some point in life were assessed by rheumatologists to confirm the diagnosis. A total of 4877 subjects participated, with an average age of 42.8 (SD 18.8) years of age; 59.7 % were women; 69.7 % lived in urban areas. 32.5 % reported MSK pain in the last 7 days and 45.7 % at some point in life. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis was 7.4 %, hand osteoarthritis 5.3 %, low back pain 9.3 %, rheumatoid arthritis 0.8 %, fibromyalgia 2 %, gout 0.4 %, and lupus 0.06 %. Subjects from rural areas reported experiencing more MSK pain in the last 7 days and at some point in life, lower income, poorer health-care coverage, and increased physical activity involving repetitive tasks such as lifting weights or cooking with firewood. MSK pain prevalence was high. Osteoarthritis and low back pain were the most common diseases. Age, sex, physical activity, repetitive tasks, living in a rural area, and lack of health-care coverage were found to be associated with MSK pain.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Raimon Sanmartí, Rheumatolgy Service, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain. We are also grateful to medical students from Universidad de Cuenca: Pául Fajardo, Juan Sánchez, Juan Pablo Cabrera, Shy Yeou Lin, Cristina Siguenza, Javier Nieto, Jorge Sotomayor, David Ochoa, Maria Eugenia Maldonado, Lisseth Carrión, María Fernanada Cordero, Paúl Morales, David Rodriguez and Inés Cajamarca for their support in the field work. The authors wish to acknowledge GEEMA Group (Grupo de Estudio Epidemiológico de Enfermedades Músculo Articulares:Peláez-Ballestas I, Rodriguez-Amado J, Alvarez-Nemegyei J, Burgos-Vargas R, Garza M, Sanin LH, Goycochea MV, and Cardiel MH.) for methodological support.

Founding

This work is sponsored and funded by the Research Division of the University of Cuenca, Ecuador. (Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca, DIUC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dirección de Investigación de la, Universidad de Cuenca-DIUC, Av. 12 de Abril y Agustín Cueva, Cuenca, Ecuador

    Sergio Guevara-Pacheco, Astrid Feicán-Alvarado, Jaime Vintimilla-Ugalde, Fernando Vintimilla-Moscoso, Jorge Delgado-Pauta, Angelita Lliguisaca-Segarra, Holger Dután-Erráez, Daniel Guevara-Mosquera & Verónica Ochoa-Robles

  2. Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Sergio Guevara-Pacheco & Astrid Feicán-Alvarado

  3. Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico

    Luz Helena Sanín

  4. Centro de Investigación Clínica de Morelia, Morelia, Mexico

    Mario H. Cardiel

  5. Department of Rheumatology, Hospital General de México “Eduardo Liceaga”, Mexico City, Mexico

    Ingris Peláez-Ballestas

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  1. Sergio Guevara-Pacheco
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  2. Astrid Feicán-Alvarado
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Correspondence to Sergio Guevara-Pacheco.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The protocol was approved by the Boethics Committee of the School of Medical Sciences, University of Cuenca. All subjects who completed the questionnaire had signed informed consent.

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Guevara-Pacheco, S., Feicán-Alvarado, A., Sanín, L.H. et al. Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases in Cuenca, Ecuador: a WHO-ILAR COPCORD study. Rheumatol Int 36, 1195–1204 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3446-y

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