RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS, PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN IN RESIDENT PROFESSIONALS OF THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH OF CEARÁ

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to analyze the levels of physical activity and psychological symptoms and the association with the frequency of musculoskeletal pain in resident professionals at the Ceará School of Public Health. This was a quantitative,
observational, cross-sectional study guided by the strobe guidelines, with non-probabilistic convenience sampling, carried out in the state of Ceará, in which participants were asked to answer a questionnaire prepared in Google Forms®, including 28 items, with access via a link made available in WhatsApp® groups exclusive to first and second period resident professionals. The questionnaire contained questions related to sociodemographic data, psychological symptoms, musculoskeletal pain and physical activity. This study involved 178 individuals of both sexes, with a mean age of 28.8 ± 4.7 years, ranging from 22 to 47 years. The results showed the characteristics of the sample according to the frequencies by gender, period of residence and community and hospital component, with 36 (20.2%) males and 142 (79.8%) females; in the first period, 87 residents (48.9%) and in the second period, 91 (51.1%); and in the community component, 147 (82.5%) and hospital, 31 (17.5%), respectively. The Anova test was used to determine the association between psychological symptoms and pain intensity. The factors related to stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and chronic pain showed significant differences p< .001, however only gender, period of residence and levels of physical activity showed no significant difference. This study showed that there was an association between psychological symptoms and chronic pain and the frequency of musculoskeletal pain in resident professionals at the Ceará School of Public Health.