title: Backpacks and back pain: where's the epidemic?
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if children presenting with a chief complaint of back pain at a pediatric orthopedic office attribute their pain to wearing a heavy backpack. A retrospective medical records search was performed to identify school-age patients with back pain. Of the 346 patients included in this study, only 1 child attributed back pain to wearing a backpack. Three patients stated that their back pain was made worse by carrying their backpack. A phone survey revealed that 80% of the patients in this study wore a backpack for school purposes. The authors found that school-age children with back pain severe enough to require orthopedic evaluation rarely attribute their pain to wearing a backpack.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedics, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229, USA. eric.wall@chmcc.org
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Foad
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spears
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing