Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases in the indigenous Qom population of Rosario, Argentina

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases among the indigenous Qom (Toba) population in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. An analytical cross-sectional study using methodology of the Community Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD) was performed. Subjects ≥18 years of age were interviewed by advanced students of medicine and nursing, bilingual translator-facilitators, and coordinators. Individuals with musculoskeletal pain (positive cases) were evaluated sequentially for 7 days by internists and rheumatologists for diagnosis and treatment. The study included 1656 individuals (77 % of the census population). Of these, 1020 (61.5 %) were female, with mean age of 35.3 (SD 13.9) years, and 1028 (62.0 %) were bilingual. The public health care system covers 87.1 % of the population. Musculoskeletal pain in the previous 7 days and/or at some time during their life was present in 890 subjects (53.7 %). Of those with pain in the last 7 days, 302 (64.1 %) subjects had an Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score ≥0.8. The most frequent pain sites were lumbar spine (19.3 %), knees (13.0 %), and hands (12.0 %). The prevalence of rheumatic diseases was as follows: mechanical back pain (20.1 %), rheumatic regional pain syndrome (2.9 %), osteoarthritis (4.0 %) rheumatoid arthritis (2.4 %), inflammatory back pain (0.2 %), systemic sclerosis (0.1 %), Sjögren syndrome (0.1 %), fibromyalgia (0.1 %), mixed connective tissue disease (0.06 %), and systemic lupus erythematosus (0.06 %). The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was 53.7 % and rheumatic diseases 29.6 %. Rheumatoid arthritis prevalence was 2.4 % using COPCORD methodology, one of the highest reported at present.