Is device-measured physical activity associated with musculoskeletal disorders among young adult Finnish men? Provisionally Accepted

Lumi Sipilä^1* Harri Sievänen² Jani Raitanen² Heikki Kyröläinen^{3, 4} Tommi Vasankari^{2, 5} Jani P. Vaara⁶ Tuomas Honkanen⁷

• ¹faculty of medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
• ²for health promotion, UKK Institute, Finland
• ³Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy, National Defence University, Finland
• ⁴Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
• ⁵Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Finland
• ⁶The Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy, National Defence University, Finland
• ⁷Centre for Military Medicine, Department of Logistics command Finnish Defence Forces, Finland

Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders represent a remarkable burden to society and an unpleasant burden for the individual. Physical activity (PA) can prevent MSK disorders while conferring other beneficial effects on health. The present study aimed to investigate associations between devicemeasured PA and perceived MSK disorders among young adult men. Methods Physical activity at different intensity levels, standing, and sedentary behavior were measured with a hip-worn accelerometer among 422 young adult Finnish men aged 26 years on average. Incidences of three common MSK disorders (knee pain, lumbar radicular pain, and lumbago pain) during the last month were inquired by a questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the associations between the MSK outcomes and explanatory PA variables (PA times at different intensity levels, standing, and sedentary times). The models were controlled for age, education, smoking, BMI, and maximal oxygen uptake. Results PA, standing, and sedentary times were not significantly associated with the incidence of perceived MSK pain during the last month, except for lumbago pain. Lumbago pain was slightly more probable if the time spent in light PA increased, even after controlling for potential confounding factors, including moderate-to-vigorous PA, the odds ratio (OR) being 1.07 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.14). Sedentary time showed an opposite association, the OR being 0.98 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.00). Conclusions There were neither positive nor negative clinically meaningful associations between PA and recent MSK disorders among young adult men. The result is surprising and requires further confirmation.