Internationale Zeitschrift für Physikalische Medizin und Rehabilitation
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Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain in Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Ravi Patel, Samuel K. Chu and Brett Gerstman

Purpose: The goal of our study was to assess the prevalence of specific musculoskeletal pain complaints in patients with developmental disabilities and how they compare to the general population. Method: A retrospective chart review was conducted at an outpatient hospital based primary care office serving patients with developmental disabilities in Northern New Jersey Results: Results showed an overall prevalence of 17.02% of musculoskeletal complaints in this population. This is similar to their peers without developmental disabilities. Of the patients seen, those with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy had the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. Low back and knee pain were the most common complaints. Females were noted to be more than two times likely than males to have musculoskeletal pain, but no significant difference was found between age groups. Conclusions: We concluded that individuals with developmental diseases require equal vigilance for musculoskeletal pain because of similar prevalence as the general population and likelihood of communication deficits with intellectual disabilities