The consequence of head-loading on the neuro-musculoskeletal health of the ILembe District youth of KwaZulu-Natal
African Journal of Disability
| Field | Value | |
| Title | The consequence of head-loading on the neuro-musculoskeletal health of the ILembe District youth of KwaZulu-Natal | |
| Creator | Motaung, Tebogo G. Ellapen, Terry J. Paul, Yvonne | |
| Description | Background: Head-loading, as a mode of transporting food, water and firewood, is a longstanding tradition assigned to female South African youth and has been associated with adverse health consequences.Objectives: This study determined the impact of head-loading on the neuromusculoskeletal health and proprioception of female South African youth.Method: This study comprised a counterbalanced, within-subject, single-factor experimental design which compared the changes that occurred when the same independent variable (head-loading) within two homogenous groups was measured in terms of the dependent variables (outcomes: neuromusculoskeletal pain and proprioception) at two time periods, before and after the introduction of the independent variable. A cohort of South African female youth (n = 100), aged 9–17 years, voluntarily partook in the study. The participants were randomly distributed into an experimental (n = 50) and a control (n = 50) group. The experimental group stood in a head-loaded state with their respective habitual head-load mass. Their proprioception measurements were compared during their unloaded versus loaded states, with the proprioceptive measurements including the total proprioception index, the anterior–posterior (front–back) index and the medial–lateral (side-to-side) index. Participants furthermore completed a head-loading health-related questionnaire.Results: Participants had a mean age of 12.3 ± 2.5 years, body mass of 44.4 ± 13.7 kg, stature of 145 ± 10 cm and a head-load mass of 8.0 ± 2.5 kg. Participants had poorer medial–lateral proprioception during head-loading as compared to their unloaded state (1.4 ± 0.8 as compared to 1.6 ± 0.9) (p 0.05). Most youth (96%) experienced neuromusculoskeletal pain in their cervical vertebrae (40.9%), shoulders (27.3%), lumbar vertebrae (10.7%), arms (8.3%), legs (8.3%), knees (1.9%), fingers (1.5%), toes (0.5%) and thoracic vertebrae (0.5%) (χ2: p 0.05).Conclusion: Head-loading adversely affects the medial–lateral proprioception and neuromusculoskeletal health of participants.Contribution: The findings of this study confirms that head-loading produces musculoskeletal pain. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2022-12-14 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/ajod.v11i0.1039 | |
| Source | African Journal of Disability; Vol 11 (2022); 7 pages 2226-7220 2223-9170 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/1039/2128
https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/1039/2129
https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/1039/2130
https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/1039/2131
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