Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)In order to survey the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the Icelandic population this study was carried out on a random sample of men and women of the ages 16 to 65 years. The aim was to gather a reference material for future use in comparison with results from different subgroups of the working population. The cohort comprised 855 subjects, 421 men and 434 women. Questionnaires developed by a working group supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers were used. The questionnaires were sent by mail and if not answered they were recalled thrice. The participation rate was 73.5%, 301 men and 326 women filled in the questionnaires. The age, sex and geographical distribution of the non-participants were similar as in the whole cohort. The highest prevalence of symptoms during the last 12 months among the men were reported from the neck, shoulders, low back and head. The percentages were 37.7, 42.5, 56.3 and 34.8 in the regions respectively. The highest prevalence of symptoms during the last 12 months among women were from the same regions as among men. The percentages were 62.9, 65.3, 64.8 and 59.1 in the regions respectively. The lowest prevalence of symptoms during the last 12 months among men were from fingers, 11.6% and among women from the elbow regions 12.6%. The prevalence of the symptoms in each region differed considerable between age groups. We are not aware of any other study performed with these questionnaires on a representative sample of a nation. The prevalence of symptoms in this sample are high in both sexes as compared to those found in variety of populations representing many different occupations and work tasks, which have been studied in Sweden. However, these Swedish subpopulations are most likely selected as a study material because of the awareness of some musculoskeletal trouble among them.Einkenni frá hreyfi- og stoðkerfi eru talin algeng meðal íslendinga. Hingað til hafa þó ekki verið birtar niðurstöður margra athugana sem sýna tíðni þessara einkenna hérlendis, né hversu mikil áhrif þau hafa á fjarvistir úr vinnu. Á vegum Vinnueftirlits ríkisins hefur farið fram athugun á einkennum frá hreyfi- og stoðkerfi meðal úrtaks íslendinga á aldrinum 16-65 ára. Notaður var spurningalisti, unninn af samstarfshópi á vegum Norrænu embættismannanefndarinnar um vinnuverndarmálefni (1,2) (viðauki I). Listinn var þýddur á íslensku og jafnframt bætt við spurningum um einkenni frá höfði, fingrum og húð. Okkur er ekki kunnugt um að spurningalistinn hafi áður verið notaður við athuganir, sem byggja á úrtaki þjóðar. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar verða birtar í þrem greinum. í þessari grein er sagt frá niðurstöðum sem fram koma í yfirliti og viðbótarhluta listans. í hinum greinunum verður fjallað nánar um einkenni frá hálsi eða hnakka, herðum eða öxlum og neðri hluta baks. Meginmarkmiðið var að fá vitneskju um algengi (prevalence) einkenna frá hreyfi- og stoðkerfi meðal íslendinga. Upplýsingarnar verður hægt að nota síðar til samanburðar við niðurstöður, sem fást þegar spurningalistinn verður lagður fyrir ýmsa starfshópa
