title: Is puberty a risk factor for back pain in the young? a systematic critical literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Back pain is a common condition that starts early in life and seems to increase markedly during puberty. A systematic review was performed in order to investigate the link between puberty and back pain, using some Bradford Hill criteria for causality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to obtain answers to the following questions: 1) Is there an association between puberty and back pain? If so, how strong is this association? And do the results remain unchanged also when controlling for age and sex? 2) Are the results of the studies consistent? 3) Is there a dose-response, showing a link between the increasing stages of puberty and the subsequent prevalence of back pain? 4) Is there a temporal link between puberty and back pain?
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic critical literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic searches were made in March 2014 in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO including longitudinal or cross-sectional studies on back pain for subjects <19 years, written in French or English. The review process followed the AMSTAR recommendations. Interpretation was made using some of the Bradford-Hill criteria for causality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four articles reporting five studies were included, two of which were longitudinal. 1) Some studies show a weak and others a strong positive association between puberty and back pain, which remains after controlling for age and sex; 2) Results were consistent across the studies; 3) There was a linear increase of back pain according to the stage of puberty 4) Temporality has not been sufficiently studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All our criteria for causality were fulfilled or somewhat fulfilled indicating the possibility of a causal link between puberty and back pain. Future research should focus on specific hypotheses, for example investigating if there could be a hormonal or a biomechanical aspect to the development of back pain at this time of life.
authors.affiliation: EA 4532 CIAMS, Université Paris-Sud, UFR STAPS, Orsay, 91405, France. alardon@ifec.net.|Institut Franco-Européen de Chiropraxie, 24 Bld Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94200, Ivry sur Seine, France. alardon@ifec.net.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lardon
authors.affiliation: EA 4532 CIAMS, Université Paris-Sud, UFR STAPS, Orsay, 91405, France.|Institut Franco-Européen de Chiropraxie, 24 Bld Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94200, Ivry sur Seine, France.|Research Department Spinecenter of Southern Denmark Hospital, Lillebélt Middelfart, Denmark.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leboeuf-Yde
authors.affiliation: EA 4532 CIAMS, Université Paris-Sud, UFR STAPS, Orsay, 91405, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Scanff
authors.affiliation: Sport medicine clinic, orthopedic dep., Hospital of Lillebaelt, Institute of Regional Health, Service Research and Center for Research in Childhood Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wedderkopp
keywords: Adolescent; Aetiology; Back pain; Cause; Puberty; Systematic review