Neck Pain among Medical Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Questionnaire Based Study

Aims: To determine the relationship between distant learning and neck pain during COVID-19 pandemic especially among medical students, thus we aim to assess prevalence of neck pain for specific Group and time.

Study Design: An observational cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Conducted in Saudi Arabia, between July 2020and October 2021.

Methodology: This is a cross-sectional observational descriptive study that started in July 2020. Our target population include all medical students either male or female suffering from neck pain in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period of distant learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sample size: Total Number of medical students in KSA (26126), Confidence level 95% and margin of error 5%. The sample size 379 was estimated using the Qualtrics calculator.

Results: A total of 2071 participants were a part of study. Most of them are female n=1509(72.9%) and least of them are male n=562(27.1%). The minimum age of participant was 18 years old n=61(2.9%), And the maximum age was 30 years old n=10(0.5%). Most of medical students noticed increase of neck pain during the period of pandemic. Most of them had noticed exacerbation of neck pain during COVID-19 pandemic n=1002(72.3%), where n=384(27.7%) had same pain before and during pandemic. Majority of them were completely relying on electronic devices for their education.

Conclusion:A high Pervasiveness of neck pain in the medical students during COVID-19 pandemic has been observed. Most of medical students noticed increase of neck pain during the period of pandemic. Majority of them were completely relying on electronic devices for their education.