RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 School children's backpacks, back pain and back pathologies
JF Archives of Disease in Childhood
JO Arch Dis Child
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
SP 730
OP 732
DO 10.1136/archdischild-2011-301253
VO 97
IS 8
A1 Paloma Rodríguez-Oviedo
A1 Alberto Ruano-Ravina
A1 Mónica Pérez-Ríos
A1 Francisco Blanco García
A1 Dorotea Gómez-Fernández
A1 Anselmo Fernández-Alonso
A1 Isabel Carreira-Núñez
A1 Pilar García-Pacios
A1 Javier Turiso
YR 2012
UL http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/8/730.abstract
AB Objective To investigate whether backpack weight is associated with back pain and back pathology in school children. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Schools in Northern Galicia, Spain. Patients All children aged 12–17. Interventions Backpack weight along with body mass index, age and gender. Main outcome measures Back pain and back pathology. Results 1403 school children were analysed. Of these, 61.4% had backpacks exceeding 10% of their body weight. Those carrying the heaviest backpacks had a 50% higher risk of back pain (OR 1.50 CI 95% 1.06 to 2.12) and a 42% higher risk of back pathology, although this last result was not statistically significant (OR 1.42 CI 95% 0.86 to 2.32). Girls presented a higher risk of back pain compared with boys. Conclusions Carrying backpacks increases the risk of back pain and possibly the risk of back pathology. The prevalence of school children carrying heavy backpacks is extremely high. Preventive and educational activities should be implemented in this age group.