Abstract
BackgroundSpinal pain in children and adolescents is a common condition, usually transitory, but the picture of spinal pain still needs elucidation, mainly due to variation in measurement methods. The aim of this study was to describe the occurrence of spinal pain in 8–15 year-old Danish school children, over a 3-year period. Specifically determining the characteristics of spinal pain in terms of frequency and duration.MethodsThe study was a 3-year prospective longitudinal cohort study including 1400 school children. The outcomes were based on weekly text messages (SMS) to the parents inquiring about the child’s musculoskeletal pain, and on clinical data from examinations of the children.ResultsThe 3-year prevalence was 55%. The prevalence was 29%, 33% and 31% for each of the three study years respectively, and increased statistically significantly with age, especially for lumbopelvic pain. Most children had few and short-lasting episodes with spinal pain, but more than one out of five children had three or more episodes during a study year and 17% of all episodes lasted for more than 4 weeks.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that spinal pain is a substantial problem. Most episodes are brief, but there are a vast number of children with frequent and long-lasting episodes of spinal pain indicating a need for action regarding evidence-based prevention and management.
Highlights
Spinal pain in children and adolescents is a common condition, usually transitory, but the picture of spinal pain still needs elucidation, mainly due to variation in measurement methods
The course of spinal pain in childhood and adolescence is still unclear, but there seems to be a certain age at which the onset of spinal pain is most common [6, 9], and we know that the prevalence of spinal pain increases with age [6, 10]
Of particular interest is a smaller group of individuals who Dissing et al BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2017) 18:67 appear to have recurrent and more painful spinal pain events [2, 3], especially considering that the teenagers with the most frequent back pain seemed to have the highest risk of back pain in adulthood [2,3,4, 12]
Summary
Spinal pain in children and adolescents is a common condition, usually transitory, but the picture of spinal pain still needs elucidation, mainly due to variation in measurement methods. There is growing evidence that spinal pain in children and adolescents is a common condition, usually transient, self-limiting and rarely associated with serious identifiable pathology [1, 2]. We know that children with spinal pain are more likely to become adults with spinal pain [3, 4], and the lifetime prevalence increases steadily to reach adult levels around the age of 18 [3, 5]. This is a challenge to both individuals and societies because of the associated personal and economic burdens. Of particular interest is a smaller group of individuals who Dissing et al BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2017) 18:67 appear to have recurrent and more painful spinal pain events [2, 3], especially considering that the teenagers with the most frequent back pain seemed to have the highest risk of back pain in adulthood [2,3,4, 12]
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