Back pain reporting in children and adolescents: the impact of parents' educational level.
BACKGROUND
Social class, including educational level, is a strong predictor for health-related perceptions and behavior and for health outcomes in general. It is not known whether parental education has an effect on back pain in their offspring.


OBJECTIVE
To establish whether parents' educational level is associated with back pain reporting and consequences of back pain in their children.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Information on parental education was obtained through questionnaires to parents and back pain information through standardized interviews with the children.


METHODS
Children aged 8 to 10 years (n = 481) and adolescents aged 14 to 16 years (n = 325) obtained through a proportional 2-stage cluster sample.


METHODS
Local schools in Odense, Denmark.


METHODS
The strength of association and dose-response connection were studied between parental educational level (high/medium/low) and the outcome variables (back pain in the preceding month, and consequences of back pain) in their children.


RESULTS
There was a significant modest negative association between the level of parental education and back pain in children but not in adolescents. There was no significant association between parental educational level and back pain consequences.


CONCLUSIONS
Further research in this area requires a more ingenious approach such as use of more socially heterogeneous study populations than those usually found in Denmark.
Leboeuf-Yde
Charlotte
C
Medical Research Unit in Ringkjøbing County, Postbox 142, DK-6950 Ringkøbing, Denmark.
Wedderkopp
Niels
N
Andersen
Lars Bo
LB
Froberg
Karsten
K
Hansen
Henrik Steen
HS
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires