Back pain prevalence and associated factors in children and adolescents: an epidemiological population study.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the prevalence of back pain among Brazilian school children and the factors associated with this pain.


METHODS
All 1,720 schoolchildren from the fifth to the eight grade attending schools from the city of Teutonia, RS, Southern Brazil, were invited to participate in the study. From these, 1,597 children participated. We applied the Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument. The dependent variable was back pain, while the independent one were demographic, socioeconomic, behavior and heredity data. The prevalence ratio was estimated by multivariate analysis using the Poisson regression model (α = 0.05).


RESULTS
The prevalence of back pain in the last three months was 55.7% (n = 802). The multivariate analysis showed that back pain is associated with the variables: sex, parents with back pain, weekly frequency of physical activity, daily time spent watching television, studying in bed, sitting posture to write and use the computer, and way of carrying the backpack.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of back pain in schoolchildren is high and it is associated with demographic, behavior and heredity aspects.
Instituto Federal Goiano, Instituto Federal Goiano, Ceres GO , Brasil, Instituto Federal Goiano. Ceres, GO, Brasil.|Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS , Brasil, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Matias
M
Noll
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS , Brasil, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Cláudia Tarragô
CT
Candotti
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS , Brasil, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Bruna Nichele da
BN
Rosa
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS , Brasil, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Jefferson Fagundes
JF
Loss
D000293:Adolescent; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors