ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: The time period between 2000-2010 has been declared the "bone and joint decade" by the World Health Organisation. Throughout this time the international scientific interest focuses mainly on the muskuloskeletal diseases: epidemiology, preventive and therapeutic measures. OBJECTIVE: Joining this international effort authors aim was to define the prevalence of the musculoskeletal symptoms and the general musculoskeletal state of health of a representative sample in the hungarian population. METHOD: Obtaining data from the Central Office of Statistics, a sample of 10 thousand people living in the South Transdanubian Region aged between 14-65 years was selected. The sample was representative concerning age, employment and municipal structure. A survey was performed by asking the people to fill out a questionnaire made by the authors, which consisted of questions focusing on musculoskeletal symptoms, and the Short Form-36 questionnaire. RESULTS: Based on questionnaire data, approximate prevalence values of the different musculoskeletal complaints were obtained. Thus, the prevalence of low back pain was 44.1%, hip pain occurred in 22.2%, knee pain in 30.3%, and ankle pain in 9.7% in the observed population. CONCLUSION: Compared with the international data, authors conclude that the prevalence of the musculoskeletal symptoms: low back pain, hip and knee pain is superior in the observed sample. Based on the results of the Short Form-36 questionnaire it seems that in the majority of the examined parameters the state of health is worse in the Southern Transdanubian population compared to the Western European and the North American Populations.
