Background: Neck pain (NP) is regarded as a chronic episodic condition characterized by persistent, recurrent, or fluctuating pain and disability. Low back pain (LBP) is social and economic health problem that affects population of all ages globally.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and associated risk factors of neck and low back pains among students at Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University.
Patients and Methods: This was a cross sectional study that included 360 students at Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University through the period from September 2018 to April 2019. Assessment of presence or absence of neck pain and back pain by Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire.
Results: 96 of the students were males (26.6%) and 264 were females (73.3%), their ages ranged from 18-25 years with a mean of 20.68 ± 1.92 years old, where 162 students of them ≤ 20 (45%) & 198 of them > 20 years old (55%). Prevalence of neck pain and/or low back pain among the studied group of students was 81.1%, while 18.9% of students were free from neck & low back pain. NP presented in 74.4% of students and LBP presented in 73.1% of all studied students. 66.4% of participants reported both NP & LBP. There was statistical significant association between reading hours (> 3 hours/ day) and NP & LBP.
Conclusion: High prevalence of NP and/or LBP 81.1% among medical students. Students complaining from NP and/or LBP had longer studying and reading time, presented mostly in clinical years in addition they had ergonomic problems and poor psychological studying environments.