INVESTIGATION OF THE PAIN AND DISABILITY SITUATION OF THE INDIVIDUALS WORKING "HOME-OFFICE" AT HOME AT THE COVID-19 ISOLATION PROCESS

Abstract

The aim of our study is to examine pain and disability in low back, knee and shoulder regions of individuals working at home during COVID-19 isolation process. In our study, 87 volunteers were included in digital media by questionnaire with data collection method. Individuals who worked in the office before COVID-19 isolation but started working from home during the isolation were included in our study. In addition to the socio-demographic characteristics of the individuals, their situation about the working environment at home was questioned. In addition, pain in the low back, knee and shoulder regions was evaluated with an 11-point pain scale (EPPS). In order to determine the level of disability, individuals were asked to fill in the Oswestry Disability Index (for the lumbar region), Lysholm Knee Score (for the knee region) and the Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) (for the shoulder region). It was seen that 86.2% preferred desk environment more frequently as home working environment and 65.5% spent 3 to 8 hours in this environment. During the home isolation process, the highest pain was observed for low back pain (50.6%) in individuals (EPPS:4-5), then shoulder pain (44.8%) (EPPS:5) and knee pain (35.6%) (EPPS:4-5). When the levels of disability were evaluated, the Oswestry score was found 13.08±11.98, the Lysholm score was found 91.20±12.23 and the DASH score was found 9.61±16.78. It has been observed that individuals working at home during COVID-19 isolation process may develop shoulder and knee pain, and mostly in the low back region, and all these pain are defined as moderate severity pain. However, when we look at the levels of disability, it was seen that low back pain, knee pain or shoulder pain did not pose a significant problem in the life of the patient and the level of disability was low.