BACKGROUND

The prevalence of back and neck pain is common in children and adolescents, and in some series the numbers are alarming. Various risk factors have been identified, although some are controversial.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of neck and back pain in children and adolescents and to investigate the potential association with various risk factors identified in the literature.

METHODS

We established a questionnaire targeting parents of children and adolescents aged between 6 and 18 years old in Tunisia. The recruitment of participants was done online using the Google Forms application. The questionnaire was divided into 2 parts: Part one collected the sociodemographics characteristics of the participants : age, gender, body mass index (BMI), exposure to passive smoking, the practice of a physical activity, puberty status and age at puberty if applicable, type and weight of the schoolbag, mean daily time spent on electronic devices, type of school the child attends (private/public), mode of transport from home to school, parental history of neck and/or back pain (mid or low back pain (LBP)), posture of the sitting position of the child, and finally whether the child reports neck/ back pain. The second part was aimed at parents whose child reported neck and/or back pain. We asked about the weekly frequency of neck/back pain, school absenteeism due to neck/back pain, whether it prevented the child from practicing physical activity and, finally, whether the child had ever seen a doctor/chiropractor/physiotherapist for their neck/back pain.

RESULTS

Eighty-eight children (45 females, 43 males) were enrolled. Mean age was 11.9 ± 3.8 years [6-18]. Mean BMI was 18.8 ± 4.2 [15.8-35.5]. Thirty-four (38.6%) were pubescent. Twenty-five (28.4%) children were exposed to passive smoking. Parental history of spine pain was found in 58% of cases. A poor sitting position was noted in n = 49 (55.7%). Mean daily screen time was 88.3 ± 75.56 min [0-360]. Prevalence of spine pain was 44% (n = 39) distributed as follows: neck pain (n = 21, 23.8%), mid back pain (n = 15, 17%), LBP (n = 26, 29.5%), neck, mid back and low back pain (n = 4, 4.5%) Professional help seeking for spine pain in children was reported by 15 participants (25.3%). Among them, 20.3% visited a physician and 5% consulted a chiropractor or physiotherapist. A significant correlation was found between spine pain and age (p = 0.006) and BMI (p = 0.006). A significant association was found between LBP and exposure to passive smoking, puberty status, type of school bag and poor posture. A positive parental history of spine pain was significantly associated with the presence of spine pain in their children with p = 0.053 (neck pain), p = 0.013 (back pain) and p < 0.00 (LBP) respectively. A significant association was found between the presence of spine pain and school absenteeism, participation in sports, consultation with a doctor or physiotherapist/chiropractor (p < 0.0001 respectively).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of spinal pain was frequent in our series. A positive parental history of spinal pain, a bad posture while sitting, passive smoking, use of backpack, higher age and higher BMI were potential associated factors.