Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in school going adolescents using school bags - A co-relational research

Abstract

Children aged 12 – 18 years undergo rapid musculoskeletal development and an application of external forces (school bags) cause musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this investigation was to assess the prevalence of neck, shoulder and back pain in the 1st term in school going adolescents using school bags. A co-relational research was conducted in Mangalore which included 580 students aged 13 -15 years. Their bag weight, body weight and height was measured and the subjects having pain either in the neck, shoulder or back were given McGill Melzack pain questionnaire to be filled. Descriptive analysis revealed that the percentage of bag weight on body weight ratio is more in females (mean ± SD 9.18 ± 3.71) compared to males (mean ± SD 8.88 ± 3.65). 6.03% of subjects carried bag weight weighing more than 15%, out of which 8.57% subjects complained of pain either in the neck, shoulder or back. The correlation between bag weight and pain was analysed using Karl Pearson’s correlation which is perfect positive (0.78). Analysis of correlation between BMI with percentage of bag weight in males (0.413) is more compared to females (0.086). The prevalence of adolescents having pain in the 1st term of school was 2.93% due to school bags. Hence, it is important to investigate further and take appropriate measures for adolescent problems with the use of school bags as it is a predictor for musculoskeletal disorder in adulthood.