Joint hypermobility syndrome among undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome among undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria using the Beighton's criteria.

DESIGN

Cross- sectional prospective study of 550 randomly selected undergraduate students.

SETTING

Departments of Anatomy and Human Physiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The overall prevalence, and the male/female prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome.

RESULTS

Five hundred and fifty subjects (250 males and 300 females) were assessed. Seventy one (12.91%) subjects consisting of 20 (8.0%) males and 51 ( 17.0%) females, had features of joint hypermobility syndrome, suggesting a higher female prevalence. Knee joint, back and wrist joint pains, in descending order were found to be the commonest type of joint complaints.

CONCLUSION

The study indicates that joint hypermobility syndrome is not rare in Nigerians and suggests that it should attract the attention of Nigerian medical practitioners.