Association of Backpack Loads and Wearing Time with Musculoskeletal Disorders in School Children of Wah Cant Pakistan: Correlational study

Abstract

Background: Young children are carrying heavy bags to and from their schools. The use of backpacks increases recently because of several factors, including decreased availability of school lockers, increased homework, text books & other belongings being carried to school. All these factors amplify backpack weight which have drastic effects on young students’ musculoskeletal system. Methods: This was a correlational study. Data collection was done between Septembers to December 2018. The inclusion criteria were healthy young boys and girls of school children, with no known history of any musculoskeletal disorder or any other deformity or pathology. Survey was done through self-structured questionnaire and Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire. SPSS 21.0 was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 1104 students were included in the study, mean age of the students was 11.90 ± 2.2 (range 8-15) years. There were 48.4% males while 51.6% were females. Frequency of fatigue due to heavy backpack was 61.6%.Neck pain was common in 40.2% students, shoulder pain in 47.4% and the frequency of low back pain was 46.6% .According to BMI 33.2% students had normal BMI and 32.6% students were very severely underweight which is an alarming situation. The correlation of bag pack weight with students BMI was weak positive(r=0.25, p<0.05). Conclusion: This study concluded that the frequency of musculoskeletal pain was high due to carrying heavy backpacks. Upper and low back pain were the most common type. Maximum students carry >16% ratio of backpacks load. Wearing time of backpack was more than 10 minutes.