Abstract
Back pain is a significant financial burden on industry and the economy, but more importantly is the cause of suffering and disability to countless individuals. Therefore if the symptoms and risk factors for back pain could be identified at an early stage, the opportunities for remedial action would be of great benefit to society. This study set out to identify the role of ergonomics and other factors in new episodes of disabling back pain in schoolchildren and to develop reliable and valid exposure methods to assess potential risk factors for schoolchildren and evaluate their relationship with subsequent symptomology over the previous month. Self-reported questionnaires were used to record health outcomes and potential risk factors in state schools (n=679) children aged between 11 and 14. The portable ergonomics observation method (PEO) was used to record exposure to physical risk factors in the classroom in a sample of children (n=66). Forty nine percent of children (n=679) reported having neck pain in the last month and 22% reported having neck pain in the last week. Almost 30% of the children reported upper back pain in the last month and 17% had upper back pain in the last week. For the lower back over 36% of the children had pain in the last month and 20% had low back pain in the last week. Neck pain was significantly associated with static posture, self-reported school furniture features, emotional and conduct problems, family history of low back pain and previous treatment for musculoskeletal disorders. Upper back pain was associated with static posture, school bag weight (3.4-4.45kgs), self-reported school furniture features, emotional problems and previous treatment for musculoskeletal disorders. A borderline score on the hyperactivity scale was associated with a decrease in upper back pain. Low back pain was associated with long lesson length, flexed posture, self-reported school furniture features, emotional problems, family history and previous injury or accident. The implications of the findings of the study are discussed. School furniture was associated with discomfort and muscular fatigue in young children. It is important to address the issue of load carriage amongst schoolchildren. Also, it is important to recognise the influence of psychological and family factors in children’s pain. There are also serious implications for the future workforce with many young adults entering the workplace with neck and back pain already present.