Background: Although neck pain is common in young adulthood, studies on predictive factors for its onset and persistence are scarce. It is therefore important to identify possible risk factors among young adults so as to prevent the development of neck pain later in life. Methods: A prospective study was carried out in healthy undergraduate students. At baseline, a self-administered questionnaire and standardized physical examination were used to collect data on biopsychosocial factors. At 3, 6, 9, and 12 months thereafter, follow-up data were collected on the incidence of neck pain. Those who reported neck pain on ≥ 2 consecutive follow-ups were categorized as having persistent neck pain. Two regression models were built to analyze risk factors for the onset and persistence of neck pain. Results: Among the recruited sample of 684 students, 46% reported the onset of neck pain between baseline and 1-year follow-up, of whom 33% reported persistent neck pain. The onset of neck pain was associated with computer screen position not being level with the eyes and mouse position being self-rated as suitable. Factors that predicted persistence of neck pain were position of the keyboard being too high, use of computer for entertainment < 70% of total computer usage time, and students being in the second year of their studies. Conclusion: Neck pain is quite common among undergraduate students. This study found very few proposed risk factors that predicted onset and persistence of neck pain. The future health of undergraduate students deserves consideration. However, there is still much uncertainty about factors leading to neck pain and more research is needed on this topic.

Low back pain (LBP) is common among office workers and is the most common cause of work-related disability in people under 45 years of age. The aetiology of LBP is widely accepted to be multi-factorial. Prognostic research into office workers at risk of developing LBP has received limited attention. The aims of this study were to develop a risk score to identify office workers likely to have LBP and to evaluate its predictive power.

Background: Fall risk screening using multiple methods was strongly advised as the initial step for preventing fall. Currently, there is only one such tool which was proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for use in its Stopping Elderly Accidents, Death & Injuries (STEADI) program. Its predictive validity outside the US context, however, has never been investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive validity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of the two-step sequential fall-risk screening algorithm of the STEADI program for Thai elderly in the community. Methods: A 1-year prospective cohort study was conducted during October 2018–December 2019. Study population consisted of 480 individuals aged 65 years or older living in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The fall risk screening algorithm composed of two serial steps. Step 1 is a screening by the clinician’s 3 key questions or the Thai Stay Independent brochure (Thai-SIB) 12 questions. Step 2 is a screening by 3 physical fitness testing tools including Time Up and Go test (TUG), 30-s Chair Stand, and 4-stage balance test. Participants were then followed for their fall incidents. Statistical analyses were conducted by using Cox proportional hazard model. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and other relevant predictive validity indices were then estimated. Results: The average age of the participants was 73.3 ± 6.51 years (range 65–95 years), and 52.5% of them were female. The screening based on the clinician’s 3 key questions in Step 1 had a high AUC (0.845), with the sensitivity and specificity of 93.9% (95% CI 88.8, 92.7) and 75.0% (95% CI 70.0, 79.6), respectively. Appropriate risk categorization however differed slightly from the original STEADI program. Conclusions: With some modification, the fall risk screening algorithm based on the STEADI program was applicable in Thai context.

Introduction: The Stay Independent Brochure (SIB) is a widely used fall-risk self-assessment tool, which is part of the Stopping Elderly Accident, Deaths & Injuries (STEADI) program in the US. However, the validity and reliability of the SIB have not been established in an elderly Thai population. Objective: To construct a fall risk screening tool based on the SIB in a Thai elderly population and investigate its psychometric effect in a community context. Methods: A total of 480 elderly participants volunteered to take part in this study from the Nakhon Ratchasima province. In the first part of the study, the original version of the SIB was translated into Thai (total 12 questions) and adapted into a modified version (total 18 questions). The translated SIBs were cross-culturally adapted and tested for content validity, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, construct validity and internal consistency. In the second part of the study, the psychometric properties of the translated SIBs were assessed using test-retest and inter-rater reliability and content and construct validity. Results: The SIBs had good content validity (IOC: 0.80 to 1.00), and the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of test-retest and inter-rater reliability was excellent for both SIB versions (ICC 0.89–0.95). The construct validity of 18 questions was tested by principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation and using factor loading greater than 0.4, and yielded 6 factors that explained 59.1% of the variance in fall risk (more than 12 questions). The coefficient alpha was higher than the usually recommended value of 0.70 for the total score of both SIB versions. The convergent validity between the TUG and BBS tests was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Based on psychometric properties, it is recommended that the two Thai versions of the SIB are an appropriate initial screening tool for the multi-steps fall risk assessment algorithm in predicting falls in an elderly Thai community.