School Bag Usage, Postural and Behavioral Habits and Its Effect on Back Pain Occurrence Among School Children

Abstract

Abstract:Back pain is currently growing as a major health problem among school age group children, which can limit or hinder their daily life activities. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of school bag use, postural and behaviors habits on back pain occurrence among school children. Descriptive correlation design was used. This study was conducted at ten governmental preparatory schools from both rural and urban schools in Menouf district, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. Random sample of 598 preparatory school children including 239 boys and 359 girls aged between 12-15 years of both rural and urban selected schools. Tools: Self-administered structured questionnaire, back pain assessment questionnaire, back pain & body posture evaluation instrument, behavioral habits questionnaire, school bag use questionnaire, and physiological measurements. The main results showed that 74.1% of the studied schoolchildren had suffered from back pain. Female students had significant risk of suffering from back pain by five times than male students. Among school children with back pain, 51.3% had reported moderate pain, the most affected area by pain was shoulder and about one fourth (24.4%) reported that the pain prevented them from performing daily activities. The mean weight of schoolbag carried by all school children was 7.46+ 2. 62 kg and the mean school bag weight as % of body weight was 14.36% ± 4.22. There was significant relationship between back pain and school bag weight, % of body weight, method and duration of carriage. Also, there was a significant relationship between back pain and improper sitting posture for writing, using computer, and sitting in classroom. The study was concluded that back pain among studied school children was high and the pain influences activities of daily life in about one fourth of students. Most of school children carry school bags more than the recommended weights of their body weight. It was associated with sex, parents' history of back pain, duration of sedentary activities, improper posture adopted in performing daily activities, weight of schoolbag, method & duration of carrying schoolbag. Recommendations: The need for developing and implementing of preventative programs in schools about proper postures during daily activities and guidelines for school bag usage.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Musculoskeletal Pain among Secondary School Students

“…This study displays no significant association between location and MSP in agreement with some previous studies on students (AL-Qato et al, 2012;El-Nagar & Mady, 2017;Lewandowski & Lukaszewska, 2014). Under the NYCBE, maintaining the provision of free transport services alongside with the zoning systems may be helping students to avoid MSP.…”

“…Studies report conflicting statistics on whether urban or rural locations can enhance pain intensity (Darmawan et al, 1992;Haq et al, 2005;Mwaka et al, 2014)). Some studies indicate no significant relations between location and MSP (AL-Qato, 2012), location and spinal pain (Lewandowski & Lukaszewska, 2014), location and back pains (BP) (El-Nagar & Mady, 2017).…”

School bags and associated back pain

“…Similar results were reported by two other studies that investigated back pain in schoolchildren (24,25). On the other hand, El-Nagar and Mady reported that the majority of students who felt back pain in their study carried the schoolbag on one shoulder or in one hand (6), which is not in agreement with our results. Most of the students from both of our groups (50.6%) reported that they sometimes felt tiredness while carrying the schoolbag (64.1% of fifth-grade students and 37.5% of sixth-grade students), with no significant difference between the two groups.…”

“…Some studies showed a higher prevalence of back pain in girls compared to boys, while other studies reported that boys are at greater risk to develop back pain or they found no statistically significant gender difference in the prevalence of back pain (3)(4)(5)(6). According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Series II, non-specific back pain occurs before the age of 20 in approximately 11% of the general population (7).…”

“…Factors that are commonly associated with non-specific back pain in schoolchildren are: Age and gender, schoolbags (heavy schoolbags, method of schoolbag carrying, and improperly packed schoolbags), poor lifestyle habits (watching TV for long hours, excessive computer use, and playing video games), poor posture while sitting for long periods, furniture that does not fit the body proportions of a child, lack of physical activity, obesity, etc. (2,5,6,8).…”