The relationship between leisure time activities and chronic musculoskeletal pain in schoolteachers.

BACKGROUND

Leisure activities (LAs) have a positive effect on well-being, healthy aging, cognitive functions, physical function, and mental health.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMSP) in schoolteachers and evaluate the relationship between different types of LAs and CMSP.

METHODS

A total of 433 in-service schoolteachers (303 female, 130 male) participated in this cross-sectional study between January 2023 and March 2023 using an online survey. Common LAs in Turkey, including reading books/magazines/newspapers or writing stories/letters, leisure physical activities (PAs), computer-based LAs, television viewing, LAs on smartphones, music listening, going to the cinema/theatre/opera/ballet/concert, gardening, cooking meal/pastry, meeting with friends, and painting/marbling/ceramic/knitting, and their durations were recorded.

RESULTS

The median age of the participants was 38.0 (IQR, 35.0-45.0) years. The prevalence of CMSP was 44.8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis including age, sex, body mass index, comorbidities, weekly standing duration at work, and LAs showed that there was an inverse relationship between CMSP and PAs (OR = 0.564, 95% CI: 0.357-0.890) and listening to music (OR = 0.555, 95% CI: 0.317-0.973). Moreover, LAs on smartphones (OR = 4.318, 95% CI: 2.004-9.308), gardening (OR = 1.827, 95% CI: 1.097-3.043), and having a thyroid disorder (OR = 2.212, 95% CI: 1.045-4.684) were predictive variables for CMSP.

CONCLUSIONS

Considering that PAs and music listening are inversely associated with CMSP, it may be beneficial to make them a part of the lifestyle of both healthy individuals and individuals with CMSP. Physicians should also be aware that LAs on smartphones carry a greater risk for CMSP.