Effects Of A Postural Education Program On Daily Life Habits Related To Low Back Pain

Abstract

PURPOSE: A group-randomized controlled trial was carried out to investigate the effects of a postural education program on daily life habits related to low back pain in children. METHODS: The study sample included 137 children aged 10.7 years from two primary schools, randomly allocated into experimental group (EG) (N=63) or control group (CG) (N=74). The EG received a postural education program over 6 weeks consisting of 6 sessions (4 theoretical and 2 practical ones), while the CG followed the usual school curriculum. A questionnaire was fulfilled by the participants at pretest, post-test and 3 months after the intervention finished (follow-up). The outcomes collected were: correct use of sofa, stooping correctly, take care to sit correctly at home/school and frequent posture change on chair at home/school. A sum score was computed from the 6 items.FigureRESULTS: Participants from both study groups had similar characteristics at baseline, except for body mass index that was lower in the experimental group (∼1kg/m2, P=0.01). No initial differences were observed in the daily postural habits score between the study groups (P=0.4). Repeated measures ANCOVA revealed a significant increase in healthy habits score in the experimental group compared with the control group, after adjusting for age and sex (Group×time interaction, P=0.002). A high statistical power was observed (i.e. power=0.89). Healthy habits score was significantly increased at post-test compared to baseline in the experimental group (P<0.001), and remained significantly increased after 3 months of follow-up, compared to baseline (P>0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that children are able to learn healthy daily life habits which might prevent future low back pain.