IntroductionBackache in children and adolescents has traditionally been considered a rare and serious condition, causing one to suspect an organic, infectious, inflammatory or neoplastic origin. Several surveys, however, have revealed a high prevalence of backache, and particularly of lumbar pain, in these age groups, indeed sometimes similar to that reported for adults. The purpose of this article is to review the recent literature, published since 1992 [6], on this topic.
Epidemiological dataThe prevalence of back pain in children varies according to the age of the population studied and, particularly, according to the methodology of the studies themselves, viz.:1. Cross-sectional studies by means of a questionnaire, with or without the participation of an investigator, looking at subjective morbidity [4,5,8,9,13,18,26,35,41,48,50,59,62,64,69]. 2. Cross-sectional studies based on physical examination of the subjects, to evaluate the measurable morbidity [4,13,35,48,50,69]. 3. Longitudinal studies (cohort studies) to measure the yearly incidence of spinal pain [12,15].Moreover, studies differ in terms of the definition of backache selected (any localisation of spinal pain versus pain limited to the lumbar area, radicular pain), and also according to the type of prevalence studied (lifetime prevalence or point prevalence of back pain). Several approaches are used in evaluating the intensity of pain: relapsing or permanent pain, need for medical care, or disability due to pain. Furthermore, in studying risk factors, it is important from a methodological point of view to distinguish cross-sectional studies without either a control group or multiple analysis of variance [2, 9, 13, 18, 22, Abstract Low back pain (LBP) among children and adolescents has become the subject of an increasing amount of literature over the last 15 years. This topic, which was considered almost insignificant less than two decades ago, was the focus of a recent international meeting organised in Grenoble (France) in March 1999. This review paper is the result of an literature update search performed by members of three groups which have been active in this field for many years. Current epidemiological data on LBP is summarized as well as the role of the major risk factors according to studies published in the principal peer reviewed journals interested in the topic.Key words Non-specific low back pain · Schoolchildren · Risk factors · Epidemiology Eur Spine J (1999) 8 : 429-438
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