Magnitude and factors associated with musculoskeletal disorder among patients with diabetes attending chronic care at Arba Minch General Hospital, Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among patients with diabetes in southern Ethiopia. DESIGN: Facility-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: Data collected from 1 March 2021 to 30 August 2021 at Arba Minch General Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred and sixty-five patients with diabetes attending care at Arba Minch General Hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The magnitude and determinants of the MSDs. RESULTS: The prevalence of MSDs among patients with diabetes was 23.29% (95% CI 19.00 to 27.76). The likelihood of developing MSDs was 6.8 times higher among women than men (AOR=6.787, 95% CI 2.08 to 22.19). Rural participants were about 2.4 times (AOR=2.38, 95% CI 1.06 to 5.33) more likely to develop MSDs as compared with urban participants. Participants aged >50 years were 5.9 times more likely to develop MSDs as compared with those aged ≤50 years (AOR=5.864, 95% CI 2.663 to 12.914). The odds of developing MSDs was 6.2 times (AOR=6.247, 95% CI 1.158 to 33.702) and 5.5 times (AOR=5.451 95% CI 1.174 to 25.312) higher among participants who attended primary and secondary education as compared with those who attended college and above, respectively. Participants with cardiovascular disease were 3.9 times more likely to develop MSDs as compared with their counterparts (AOR=3.854, 95% CI 1.843 to 8.063). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that age, sex, educational status, place of residence and cardiovascular disease were found to be determinants of MSDs. Thus, clinical and public health interventions working on diabetes mellitus should consider these determinants.