Prevalence of pain and musculoskeletal disorders in diving coaches (recreational diving) and their relation with musculoskeletal abnormalities

Abstract Background and Aim: breath-hold diving has a long history in many countries and has been used to catch pearls and seafood. In the last few decades, diving has become a popular sports activity in throughout the world and educators around the world are training this recreational activity. Inappropriate working conditions, long working hours, use of heavy equipment for a long time and frequently, working in awkward postures are the things that diving coaches always face when working. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and musculoskeletal disorders in diving coaches and their relation with musculoskeletal abnormalities. Methods: This study was performed on 57 diving coaches from Kish Island. All subjects were selected and 51 people from the study population were present in this study. A standard Nordic questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of pain and musculoskeletal disorders, a flexible ruler was used to investigate kyphosis and lordosis abnormalities, to measure abnormalities of genuvarum and genuvalgum, caliper was used and forward head anomalies were measured using AutoCADchr('39')s software and photogrammetric method technique. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation for data representation were used and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation coefficient were used to investigate the relationship between abnormalities and musculoskeletal pain. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. (p <0/05). Results: The findings showed that the highest frequency of pain in the neck region was observed with 33.3% and the lowest frequency of pain in the ankle region was 15.7%. Also Forward head anomalies were highest with 19.6% and genuvalgum abnormalities with a frequency of 5.9% had the lowest abundance. There is a positive and significant correlation between pain in each region of the body and abnormalities in that area. (p <0/000). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the presence of anomalies and, consequently, the presence of pain in different parts of the body of the diverchr('39')s coaches can affect both their working life and their normal life. In order to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and increase the performance of these people, The Professional Association of Divers can promote and improve the quality of work and non-work done by properly communicating with their coaches and supporting them and creating an appropriate environment for the continuing professional activity of coaches.