La actual evidencia científica presenta diversos posicionamientos en la definición de los niveles de estrés en función del género y su influencia en el rendimiento académico. Los objetivos del estudio son: a) examinar las diferencias de género en el nivel de estrés académico, de estresores académicos y de estrategias de afrontamiento en estudiantes universitarios; b) evaluar la relación entre los niveles de estrés y el rendimiento académico. Participaron 162 estudiantes universitarios del Grado en Educación Primaria con una edad media de 23.7 (DE=5.68). El instrumento de medida utilizado fue el Inventario SISCO del estrés académico. También se recogió la nota media de expediente académico de los estudios de grado. Los principales resultados fueron: 1) El 96.1% de las mujeres y el 88.2% de los hombres presentan niveles de estrés académico; 2) “Las evaluaciones de los profesores” y “el tipo de trabajo que piden los profesores” son los estímulos estresores que muestran una diferencia estadísticamente significativa, percibiendo mayor estrés las mujeres, (p=0.008, p=0.005; respectivamente); 3) Las mujeres utilizan más “la ventilación y confidencias” como estrategia de afrontamiento, respecto al género masculino (p=0.001); 4) No se halló relación entre estrés y rendimiento académico.

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. The study sample included 137 children aged 10.7 years. 6 classes from 2 primary schools were randomly allocated into an experimental group (EG) (N=63) or a control group (CG) (N=74). The EG received a postural education program over 6 weeks consisting of 6 sessions, while the CG followed the usual school curriculum. A questionnaire was completed by the participants at pretest, post-test and 3 months after the intervention finished. 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. To examine the effect of the intervention, we used repeated measures analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA); with baseline, post-test and follow-up outcome values as dependent variables, study group as fixed factor, and sex and age as covariates. Single healthy items mostly improved after the intervention and remained improved after 3 month follow-up in EG, while no substantial changes were observed in the CG. Healthy habits score was significantly increased at post-test compared to baseline in the EG (P<0.001), and remained significantly increased after 3-months, compared to baseline (P0.6). The results suggest that children are able to learn healthy daily life habits which might contribute to future prevention of low back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal disease that affects a large percentage of the working population, including teachers. The World Health Organization has identified the school as an effective environment for improving child health. For this reason, the figure of the teacher is a fundamental piece in the process of knowledge acquisition about postural education and prevention of LBP among schoolchildren. The present study aims to determine the knowledge of postural education and back pain prevention among primary school teachers. This cross-sectional study evaluated 85 primary school teachers from Majorca (Spain), of whom 17.6% were physical education teachers and 82.4% were classroom teachers. The study was based on two different structured and self-administered questionnaires to investigate into specific knowledge about LBP: Low Back Pain Knowledge Questionnaire (LKQ) and COSACUES-AEF Questionnaire. The results demonstrated a lifetime prevalence of LBP of 96.5% with significant differences determined by sex. The knowledge of participants about LBP was 17.3 in LKQ (range scale 0–24) and 4.3 in COSACUES (range scale 1–10). In conclusion, the teachers knowledge is insufficient to carry out an efficient and useful health promotion program among schoolchildren to prevent LBP.

The current randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the effects of a postural education program on daily life habits related to low back pain (LBP) in children. Reducing the disease burden of unspecific LBP in children is of major public health relevance, as children with episodes of LBP tend to experience chronic back pain in adulthood. The study was performed in Majorca (Spain), with 253 primary school children aged between 10 and 12 years. The sample was selected from different clusters (schools) using convenience sampling and randomly distributed into an experimental group (5 schools) or a control group (5 schools). Individual postural items did not improve after the intervention in the experimental group, nor did they improve in the control group. Neither did they improve postural habits score in both groups after the intervention. In conclusion, this telematic intervention has not managed to improve postural habits in children. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence to determine whether it is feasible to carry out telematics intervention that promotes lifestyle changes in children.