Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the primary caregiver of patients with physical disabilities.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the primary caregiver of patients with physical disabilities at the Central Military Hospital. Methodology: Participants who were caregivers of patients with a disability were sought to complete the questionnaire. A sociodemographic questionnaire was applied to each person, the Nordic questionnaire for the detection of musculoskeletal symptoms and the Zarit questionnaire to assess the caregiver's burden, descriptive statistics of these questionnaires were performed. Results: The final sample was 29 people, the sociodemographic questionnaire showed that the primary caregiver is usually a single woman aged 40 (± 11.5) years, with a daughter relationship, who is dedicated to household activities. The Nordic questionnaire showed that 21% of the caregivers reported pain, the largest areas with pain were back (45 %), shoulder and neck (both with 21 %). The Zarit questionnaire indicated that nearly 90 % of the patients did not present activity overload. Limitations of the study: Being a study carried out in a military hospital, the results may not be representative of the Mexican population. Originality: Few are the works focused on the study of the Primary Caregiver both nationally and internationally. Conclusions: The informal primary caregiver is usually a vulnerable population with a low educational level and without any economic remuneration, and which contributes a lot to the care of patients with disabilities, therefore measures must be implemented to help train them to care for their integrity and that of their relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]