relationships between musculoskeletal disorders, sleep impairment, and cardiorespiratory fitness among adolescents aged 15-19 years in douala, cameroon: a cross-sectional study

Background: musculoskeletal disorders (msds) are a leading cause of disability worldwide. while poor sleep quality (psq) is considered an important risk factor for pain, high cardiorespiratory fitness (crf) is a somewhat controversial protective factor. the present study investigated the association between msds, psq, and crf in adolescents.methods: a cross-sectional, prospective study was conducted from november 2023 to march 2024 in douala, cameroon, among 15-to 19-year-old adolescents from public and private secondary schools. msds over the past three months (msds-3m) and the past week (msds-7d), as well as psq, were assessed using the nordic and pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaires, respectively. then, crf was estimated using the 20-meter shuttle run test. quantitative analyses were performed using a t-test and qualitative by the chi-square test, respectively. also, logistic regression was used to identify associations between msds, psq, and crf, with statistical significance set at p<0.05.results: a total of 549 adolescents were included with a female predominance (64.5%). the respective prevalence rates for psq, msds-3m and msds-7d were 64.1%, 60.3% and 44.3%. msds were predominantly found in adolescents with psq (msds- 3m: 52.8%, p=0.007; msds-7d: 64.5%, p<0.001). the neck (msds-3m=40.3%) and lower back (msds-7d=23.3%) were the body parts most affected in adolescents with psq. neck pain was associated with msds (p<0.01) and an increase in all psq components, with sleep disturbances being mostly associated with msds in body regions (p<0.01). no association (p>0.05) was noticed between crf and msds.conclusion: psq was a significant risk factor for msds in adolescents, whilst crf did not protect against msds.