In the study conducted for the British Society of Rheumatology in 2006, Dieppe identified three links to musculoskeletal disorders. Those are:Age, poverty, pain and behaviour. Alongside he discussed roles of sex, ethnicity and rural living. In the graph presented, More women are afflicted with musculoskeletal disorder and occurrence is higher in developing countries. Let's take into consideration some of the factors identified by the researcher and relate it with physiologic changes in women.
As women age, she is also depleted of hormones Estrogen and Progesterone. These hormones play a vital role in preparing the reproductive system, the same as it affects bone formation.Although not completely understood, physicians and researchers agreed that lack of estrogen decreases calcium absorption and utilization which is needed to maintain bone integrity.
The relationship between poverty women and musculoskeletal disorder can be rooted on the fact that women belonging to the lower socioeconomic group had more pregnancies and childbirth. Most of them are housewives who spent more time in domestic care, house hold chores and provision of basic needs. This was, at least, the findings of the study "Musculoskeletal disorders among full-time homemakers in poor communities.

Good afternoon everyone, one of the three topics that we are to discuss today is chronic musculoskeletal conditions affects both gender and women in general. I hope I could answer some of your queries (my internet connection sometimes is the problem). As we go along the literatures, the following questions will guide us to further explore the given topic:

1. Looking into the statistics provided by Disease Control Priorities Project, what conclusion could you derive? (Kindly provide empirical studies to support your claim).
Note: The chart is uploaded in our yahoo groups.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/exec_msnbatch4/files/MCN%20Cluster/Women%27s%20Health/

Title: estimated burden of musculoskeletal conditions

2. How do chronic musculoskeletal conditions affect women’s health?
3. What are the factors that could affect the experience of these women having chronic musculoskeletal conditions?
4. What could have been done to help women in addressing the psychological impact of chronic musculoskeletal conditions?



At the end of the discussion and when all your responses are submitted, I’ll be giving a synthesis of what had transpired during the discussion.

God bless, everyone!



Facts:
• Globally, the number of people suffering from musculoskeletal conditions increased by 25 percent over the past decade. Musculoskeletal conditions are currently the most common cause of chronic disability. Although the evidence needed to determine the most cost-effective interventions is scant, affordable measures to prevent and treat musculoskeletal conditions are available.


• Osteoarthritis is characterized by focal areas of loss of articular cartilage within synovial joints, which are associated with hypertrophy of bone (osteophytes and subchondral bone sclerosis) and thickening of the capsule. Estimates from Australia indicate that the incidence of osteoarthritis is higher among women than men among all age groups. For women, the highest incidence is among those aged 65–74 years, reaching approximately 13.5 per 1000 population per year; for men, the highest incidence occurs among those aged ≥75 years with approximately 9 per 1000 population per year.

• Osteoporosis is characterized by a low bone mass and a microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. The general prevalence of osteoporosis rises from 5% among women aged 50 years to 50% at 85 years of age; among men, the comparable figures are 2.4% and 20%.

• Low back pain is known as a localized below the line of the twelfth rib and above the inferior gluteal folds, with or without leg pain; and it can be classified as “specific” (suspected pathological cause) or “non-specific” (about 90% of cases).

• The burden of musculoskeletal disorders can be measured in terms of the problems associated with them, that is the pain or impaired functioning (disability) related to the musculoskeletal system, or in relation to the cause, such as joint disease or trauma.

• Factors associated with work disability commonly are the nature of the job (the level of physical activity required and the degree of autonomy, particularly over the place of work), the age at onset of the disease, marital status, level of formal education, duration of the disease and the level of disability.

• Psychosocial changes are one of the significant adverse impacts of rheumatoid arthritis. The loss of positive body image is a serious problem for many. Meenan et al. (1981) found that 63% had experienced at least one major change in their life (marital status, employment) as a result of their disease. Of those surveyed, 83% of people between the ages of 21 and 65 had to make significant changes in their leisure activities.

• Although musculoskeletal conditions are the most common cause of chronic disability worldwide, few data are available on approaches to addressing these conditions. Thus, it is difficult to estimate the most cost-effective interventions for developing countries.


thanks!

-jenny