THE PREVALENCE OF MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN IN AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS WITH META-ANALYSIS INCLUDING MORE THAN 100 DISTINCT PRIMARY STUDIES

Abstract

Abstract Objective This overview of systematic reviews aimed to summarize the point, annual, and lifetime prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in African countries. Methods The CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed were searched until October 6, 2023. Systematic reviews with meta-analyses evaluating the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain were included. The quality of reviews was assessed with AMSTAR 2 and the overlap among reviews was calculated. Results Six reviews were included. The pooled point prevalence rate of low back pain was 39%. The pooled annual prevalence rates of low back pain ranged from 54.05% to 64.07% among meta-analyses. The pooled annual prevalence rates of upper back pain, elbow pain, wrist and/or hand pain, knee and/or leg pain, foot and/or ankle pain, and hip and/or thigh pain were 27.1%, 19.7%, 24.2%, 25.0%, 20.2%, and 15.5%, respectively. The pooled lifetime prevalence rate of low back pain was 47%. A slight overlap was found among low back pain reviews. Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa were mainly studied in low back pain. The rest of types of musculoskeletal pain were only studied in Ethiopia. Discussion The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain is high. More than 100 primary studies have been meta-analyzed on this topic, underlying the high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in African countries. Important methodological concerns were detected and discussed that can help researchers to improve and guide the future agenda in this field. Funding None. Review protocol https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/V72FY .