Social Distancing and Musculoskeletal Disorders in Supermarkets during COVID-19 Pandemic in Ogun State Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria is part of the
worldwide pandemic of virus disease that emerged in 2019. Social
distancing is one of the recommended measures to reduce the spread
of this virus, which is transmitted by air droplets. The COVID-19
lockdown presents certain challenges for patients with
musculoskeletal conditions. The study was conducted among crowd
queuing in supermarkets in Ogun State Southwest Nigeria between
30th March 2020 and 20th June 2020 during the ease of lockdown. Six
hundred modified Nordic Musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire
was administered to selected customers. The collected data were
analyzed using SPSS 23 version through descriptive statistics and
binary logistic regression accordingly. A. total of 593 (98.8%)
respondents participated in the study. Result showed that 55.0% of
the respondents were male with 45.0% female. The mean age of the
respondents was 3.24(±0.94) years with age range between 32–
37years (35.1%). and 84.8% married respectively. Results also
showed that 70.2% of the respondents shopped at the supermarkets.
The results further identified the MSDs on body parts, neck 19.7%
with 95%CI (0.622–1.589), wrist/hand 10.1% with 95%CI (0.555–
1.810), upper back 60.4% with 95%CI (2.664–5.593) and leg 100%
with (0.021–0.840) 95%CI prevalence. However, 85.5% each
reported low back pains and waist/hip respectively. Moreso, 41.8%
observed resting or sleeping and 27.0% visited hospital for
treatment. The study identified that the prevalence of MSDs is high
due to the prolonged stayed on the queue while observing social
distancing.