Back Pain in Medical Students at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

October 15, 2018 updated by: Paula Dawson, MBBS, The University of The West Indies

Back Pain in Preclinical and Clinical Medical Students at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of back pain in preclinical second year and clinical fourth/fifth year medical students at the University of the West Indies; to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice of good spine health; and to determine the outcome of a standardize spine exercise program on one group, the clinical second year medical students, using a prospective randomized control design.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

There is a surfeit of literature on musculoskeletal pain especially that of back pain, which are commonly associated with lifestyle practices including varied occupations that affect individuals of all ages.

Medical students in the clinical years of training are more likely to be involved in strenuous activities such as prolonged standing for ward rounds, bending forward to examine patients and sometimes being engaged in manual handling of patients, as compared to medical students in the preclinical years. During the early period of preclinical training, medical students primarily sit for extended periods in lectures, use computers or tablets, or in the library, studying and completing assignments. These practices can all be attributable to the increased risk of developing low back among other musculoskeletal problems; especially in instances where the strength and stability of the spine is not maintained and safe spine precautions are not done.

There is no published study in Jamaica or to the researcher's knowledge in the Caribbean which looks at the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, specifically low back pain in medical students. This study is to determine the prevalence of low back pain in second and fourth/fifth year medical students at the University of the West Indies (UWI); assess their knowledge, attitude and practice toward good spine health in preventing back and neck pain; and using a prospective randomized control study model, evaluate the outcome of a standardized spine exercise program on back pain in the preclinical second year medical students over an eight (8) week period from September 7, 2015 to November 2, 2015.

Both groups will be followed up over the stipulated period. The identity of all participants will be protected and will only be identified by an assigned study number. Basic demographics, presenting complaints and outcome information will be obtained for the purposes of the study. Questionnaires will be carefully constructed from the objectives of the study to determine the presence of back and neck pain in the medical students and their knowledge, attitude and practice towards the musculoskeletal problem of the back.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

300

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Jamaica
      • Kingston, Jamaica, JMAAW15
        • Faculty of Medical Sciences Teaching and Research Complex,The University of the West Indies, University Hospital of the West Indies
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • ADULT
  • OLDER_ADULT
  • CHILD

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. All second and forth/fifth year students enrolled in the medical program at UWI, Jamaica during the period September 7, 2015 to November 2, 2015.
  2. Willingness to consent to the study.
  3. Preclinical medical students' willingness to adhere to standardized exercise program for the stipulated period.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History of having spine surgery
  2. Previously diagnosed with spine pathology and currently receiving rehabilitation therapy.
  3. Unwillingness to participate in study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
OTHER: Spine exercise program

The preclinical second year medical students will be prospectively randomized into two (2) groups, a control group (Group A) and an intervention group (Group B) that will be given a standardized spine exercise program. They will be asked to complete a Questionnaire B to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitude and practice towards musculoskeletal problem of the back and neck pain after intervention; the numeric rating scale (NRS), and the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) at eight (8) weeks.

The standardized spine exercise program will be provided in a handout and given only to the intervention Group B subjects, these are basic low back exercises to be done three (3) times per week for 20mins, as well as a few very brief stretching exercises to be done during periods of sitting for greater than sixty (60) minutes.
Other: Spine Exercise Program
Spine exercises should be done 20 minutes/ 3 days per week Desk stretches should be done when exposed to prolonged sitting for greater than 60 mins
Other Names:
  • Desk stretches

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To assess the change of Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire CMDQ
Time Frame: Change of CMDQ at 8 weeks
The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire is an outcome measure used widely when examining musculoskeletal disorders in various occupational groups and students alike.The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was taken from the instruments provided by Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University. It is from public domains and permission for its use is not required.
Change of CMDQ at 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To assess the change in Questionnaire A
Time Frame: Change in Questionnaire A at 8 weeks
It is a self-administered general questionnaire used to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice towards musculoskeletal problem of back pain.
Change in Questionnaire A at 8 weeks
To assess the change in Questionnaire B
Time Frame: Change in Questionnaire B at 8 weeks
Questionnaire B will be used to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitude and practice towards musculoskeletal problem of the back after intervention
Change in Questionnaire B at 8 weeks
To assess the change in Numeric Rating Scale
Time Frame: Change in Numeric Rating Scale at 8 weeks
The Numeric Rating Scale is an 11-point scale for patient self reporting of pain. It is from public domains and permission for its use is not required.
Change in Numeric Rating Scale at 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of The West Indies

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Paula UA Dawson, MBBS, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
  • Principal Investigator: Maxim US Christmas, DM (Ortho), Division of Orthopaedics, Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ANTICIPATED)

October 1, 2018

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

March 1, 2019

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

March 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 10, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 15, 2018

First Posted (ACTUAL)

October 16, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 16, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 15, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ECP 248, 13/14

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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