Prevalence of low back pain among adolescent students

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among the adolescent students. Objectives: The objective of the study was to find out the percentage of LBP among the students and most affected age group of LBP, socio-demographic information, studying posture, weight of school backpack and how many participants received treatment option. Methodology: Cross sectional study design was selected for this study. Total 100 samples were selected by convenience sampling from selected school at Savar, Dhaka. Data was collected by mixed type questions. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis which focused on pie chart and bar chart. Results: The Prevalence of LBP was 78% (n=100) among the adolescent students. Most commonly affected age group were 17 years. Among 78 participants who had LBP, 60 (79%) were female where only 18(21%) were male and male were more affected than female. Among the participants 70.51% participants complain pain felt sometimes while carrying school backpack. Half of the students maintained sitting posture for study at home. The maximum weight of school bag was 5.71 kg and the minimum weight of school bag was 2.05 kg was found during interview and the average weight of the school bag was 4.05 kg during interview. Among the participants who had suffered from LBP, 20.51%(n=16) participants received treatment for LBP and only 6.25%(n=1) student had received physiotherapy treatment. And 56.25%(n=9) participants had felt better after receiving treatment. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that LBP is prevalent among the students at Savar schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was associated with the age, gender, body mass index, studying posture and weight of school backpack. Key words: Low back pain, Prevalence, Adolescence