THE PREVALENCE OF PAIN AND USE OF ANALGESICS IN KAZAKHSTANI SWIMMERS

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pain is a major issue for elite athletes because it can have long-term effects on mental and physical health, which can eventually damage sports performance and career longevity. In addition to determining the main types of pain reported in these activities, this study attempts to ascertain the prevalence of chronic pain and the use of analgesics among professional swimmers in Kazakhstan. Methods: Thirty professional swimming athletes from the Kazakhstani Swimming Federation participated in this study. A survey by using the questions from the Extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ-E) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale was used to gather data on demographics, main pain sites, its effect on athletes` lives, analgesic consumption patterns, and pain severity ratings. Results: The research shows the most frequent is the shoulder pain after the lower back pain in Kazakhstani elite swimmers, which is understandable for swimmers and written in previous studies. Research indicates that more elite swimmers experience occasional pain rather than constant pain. Despite this, only NCAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) type of analgesics are used by surveyed participants; there's no reported use of prescribed analgesics, and nearly half never use any analgesics. The effectiveness of the analgesics is generally rated as low to satisfactory. Conclusion: The findings highlight that Kazakhstani elite swimmers commonly experience pain in their lower back area after shoulder pain, which is probably linked with overloading and extreme load on lower back during the stokes and turns during swimming process and competitions. Findings of research suggest that improved pain management strategies focusing on customized rehabilitation techniques are required to treat recurrent pain and lessen reliance on unprescribed analgesic usage.