Joint hypermobility syndrome among undergraduate students

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome among undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria using the Beighton's criteria. Design: Cross-sectional prospective study of 550 randomly selected undergraduate students. Setting: Departments of Anatomy and Human Physiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Main outcome measures: The overall prevalence, and the male/female prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome. Results: Five hundred and fifty subjects (250 males and 300 females) were assessed. Seventy one (12.91%) subjects consisting of 20 (8.0%) males and 51 (17.0%) females, had features of joint hypermobility syndrome, suggesting a higher female prevalence. Knee joint, back and wrist joint pains, in descending order were found to be the commonest type of joint complaints. Conclusion: The study indicates that joint hypermobility syndrome is not rare in Nigerians and suggests that it should attract the attention of Nigerian medical practitioners.