Comparison of the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among typical and hard of hearing students in Ilam city

Introduction: inappropriate sitting posture on a bench may be the reason for pain and musculoskeletal disorders in students. Hearing and vision disabilities can be caused by inappropriate sitting postures by students. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in typical and hard-of-hearing students in Ilam city. Methods: 20 students with hard of hearing (case) and 40 students with typical hearing (control) from primary schools in Ilam city in both genders were randomly included in the study. The worst recorded sitting posture of students on the bench was evaluated by the RULA method. Digitizer software was used to survey the body angles of the students while sitting on the bench. The SPSS software v.22 was used for analyzing of obtained data in 95% confidence interval. Results: The results of the posture evaluation showed that there was a significant difference in RULA scores between the case and control groups (P-value=0.001). Deviation from the natural angles of the body in the case groups was more than in the control group (P-value <0.001), which has a direct and significant relationship with the increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal disorder's possibility incidence was more in hard-of-hearing students compared to typical students, which was observed following an increase in deviation from the natural angles of the body and inappropriate postures. The limitation of the sample size in the present study recommended the necessity of further research with the same goal and navigated intervention studies to correct the posture of hard-of-hearing students.