The effect of corrective exercises on musculoskeletal disorders among the older adults residing in a nursing home in Rasht, Guilan, Iran

BACKGROUND: Ageing causes changes in the function of musculoskeletal systems and disability, and injury among older adults. This study aimed to determine the effect of corrective exercises on musculoskeletal disorders among older adults residing in a nursing home in Iran. METHOD: This controlled clinical trial study was conducted on 58 older adults (29 samples in each group). The intervention group performed corrective exercises for 8 weeks and three sessions per week and each session lasted for one hour. The pre-test was performed one week before intervention and the post-test one week after the 8-week intervention. The research instruments included Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), and the pain visual analog scale (VAS). Descriptive and inferential (Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, and McNemar test) statistics were used to analyze the data using SPSS software version 19. RESULTS: the majority of the participants were males (67.2%) and in the age range of 60–74 years (82.8%). The mean age of samples in intervention and control groups was 68.45 (SD = 5.38) and 69.17 (SD = 5.86), respectively. The results showed that the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) was decreased in the intervention group after the intervention (%Δ = -34.68, p < .05). The results also showed a statistically significant decrease in pain intensity of musculoskeletal in the intervention group, after the intervention (%Δ = -68.34, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Corrective exercises reduce the prevalence of MSDs and the pain intensity among older adults. It is recommended to pay attention to these exercises to improve physical health and reduce the prevalence of MSDs among older adults. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-023-06915-8.