Prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among older adults in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Older adults are increasing in number in both developed and developing countries. However, as the world's aging population grows, the burden of diseases among older people also increases. Despite this, co-occurring health problems due to physical inactivity in older adults have become a concern, and physical inactivity can be caused by different conditions. As a result, for older adults to have better health outcomes, early diagnosis of physical activity status and prevention of non-communicable diseases are crucial. There is a lack of data on the prevalence and associated factors of physical inactivity among older adults that is scarce in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the study area, Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of physical inactivity among older adults in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia, in 2022. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1st to June 30th, 2022, in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. The data was collected by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, Volume 2 through face-to-face interviews among 838 participants. Data were entered into Epinfo version 7.1, then exported and analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Science version 25. A binary logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with physical inactivity. The result was considered statistically significant based on an adjusted odds ratio of 95% and a p-value less than 0.05. RESULT: The prevalence of physical inactivity was 65.6% (95% CI: 62.1-68.9). Being female (AOR: 3.053, 95% CI:1.487-6.267), age group > = 80 (AOR: 4.082, 95% CI:1.234-13.497), primary school level (AOR: 3.020, 95% CI:1.433-6.367), no formal education (AOR: 8.573, 95% CI:2.843-25.847), unemployed (AOR: 10.273, 95% CI:5.628-18.753), and symptoms of depression (AOR: 7.152, 95% CI: 4.786-17.965) were significantly associated with physical inactivity. CONCLUSION: Physical inactivity was relatively high among older adults in Gondar town. Being female, older age, having low levels of education, being unemployed, and having depression symptoms were associated with physical inactivity. We suggest promoting the health benefits of physical activity among females by reducing their burden, older age groups, and unemployed older adults, and avoiding depression among individuals.

Magnitude and possible risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among street cleaners and solid waste workers: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In the absence of a standardized work environment, insurance system, occupational safety measures and expanding workload an uptrend of musculoskeletal disorders secondary to occupational hazards is observed among a wide range of occupations in developing countries including street sweepers/cleaners. The aim of this study is to determine the burden and potential factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders among street cleaners/solid waste collectors in Gondar town, Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used to determine the burden and identify potential risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among street cleaners. Street cleaners (n = 422) working experience of at least one year were randomly selected from the community at their respective work sites (street). A face-to-face interview recorded the participant's response addressing socio-demographic, occupational, job satisfaction, disability related to basic ADL, physical measurements, and self-reported pain using the Nordic-Musculoskeletal questionnaire. The logistic regression model was created to identify potential factors associated with self-reported MSDs. RESULTS: The sample consists of women street sweepers/cleaners (100%, n = 422, response rate 100%) with at least one-year of work experience with a mean age of 37.03 ± 8.26. About 40% of women sweepers were illiterate and 95% reported no job satisfaction. The overall prevalence of MSDs was 73% (n = 308, 95% CI; 68.5, 77.2), among them nearly 65% reported having experienced disability in performing basic ADL in the past 12 months. Low back pain was the most prevalent region (n = 216, 70.1% case versus MSDs n = 308). In univariate and multivariate logistics analysis, being overweight/obese (AOR of 4.91 (95%, 2.22, 10.87)), age group 35 and above (AOR 2.534 (1.51, 4.26)), not-satisfied with job (AOR 2.66 (1.05, 6.75)), and street cleaning distance of longer than 2 km (AOR 2.82 (1.64, 4.83)) were significantly associated with self-reported musculoskeletal disorder.. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated higher self-reported MSDs among street sweepers/cleaners. Modifiable predictors like overweight, lack of job satisfaction, and cleaning longer distance were identified to be associated. Hence, there is a need for ergonomic measures and policy to curb these factors to reduce the burden of MSD among women street sweepers.