By When we think of children, we tend to conjure up an image of kids running, playing, and having fun. We think of them as being more physically active and, of course, not having to put up with something like back pain. Yet that’s simply not the case. Children may also suffer from chronic back pain. A recent study set out to see if there are potential risk factors that associate with back pain in children.
The Study
Was published in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation (1). Also, they found that back pain often develops in early childhood, and then throughout adolescence, it becomes more frequent. The study they conducted to look for potential risk factors and the therapy effects on back pain in children included 96 boys and girls. They were all patients at a hospital setting in Serbia during the 2016 year. The average age of the children was 14.6, and 56 percent of the group were girls.
The researchers analyzed the influence of sex, age, physical activity, and the presence of concomitant locomotor system deformities, as well as applied therapies that were used. What the results of the study showed was that the children who were suffering from back pain also had spinal column deformities, with most of them being scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine, and kyphosis, which is a forward rounding of the back. They found that out of the 96 children in the study, there were 54 of them who had been diagnosed with chronic pain.
The only significant risk factor the researchers reported finding was low back pain, which was a significant factor in the onset of chronic back pain. However, they also reported that the pain declined once the children were given ergonomic education and physical therapy.
Additional research
conducted on children with back pain, including a May 2016 study that was published in the journal Revista de Saúde Pública (2). In that study, researchers set out to identify the prevalence and factors associated with children having back pain. Their study included 1,720 children ranging from the fifth to the eighth grade. They report that back pain in children has multiple causes, including physical, behavioral, genetic, and psychosocial factors.
Important to note from that study
there is a relation between back pain and time spent watching television, with there being a risk factor for watching more than eight hours per day.
Sources:
- Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. Potential risk factors for back pain in children. January 2019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30814345
- Revista de Saúde Pública. Back pain prevalence and associated factors in children and adolescents: an epidemiological population study. May 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4902657/
