OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence of back pain among Brazilian school children and the factors associated with this pain. METHODS All 1,720 schoolchildren from the fifth to the eight grade attending schools from the city of Teutonia, RS, Southern Brazil, were invited to participate in the study. From these, 1,597 children participated. We applied the Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument. The dependent variable was back pain, while the independent one were demographic, socioeconomic, behavior and heredity data. The prevalence ratio was estimated by multivariate analysis using the Poisson regression model (α = 0.05). RESULTS The prevalence of back pain in the last three months was 55.7% (n = 802). The multivariate analysis showed that back pain is associated with the variables: sex, parents with back pain, weekly frequency of physical activity, daily time spent watching television, studying in bed, sitting posture to write and use the computer, and way of carrying the backpack. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of back pain in schoolchildren is high and it is associated with demographic, behavior and heredity aspects.

The Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument (BackPEI) was created in 2013 to assess back pain and its risk factors in school children. However, it does not assess neck pain or the habits of mobile device usage, which are aspects that are often part of school children’s lives. Therefore, we aimed to update the BackPEI questionnaire to include new questions assessing aspects related to neck pain and the use of mobile devices and to test the content validity and reliability of the new questions. The updated questionnaire was named Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument for Children and Adolescents (BackPEI-CA). The content was validated by eight experts using the content validity index (CVI). To assess reliability, the BackPEI-CA questionnaire was applied at two different times in 105 school children, and Cohen’s kappa (k) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. All aspects assessed regarding content validity had a CVI higher than 0.8. The new questions presented moderate and good kappa values and excellent ICC values. The updated version of BackPEI-CA can be used as a clinic tool for assessing the presence, frequency, and intensity of back and neck pain and their risk factors.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of postural variables and the associated factors, like back pain and life habits, in schoolchildren during a period of four years. Forty-two school children underwent a postural assessment using Digital Image-Based Postural Assessment software. They also answered the self-administered questionnaire titled, “Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument” to evaluate their back pain and life habits. We observed a significant trend of forward head, thoracic hyper kyphosis, and lumbar hyper lordosis in the entire group, as well as a trend of cervical rectification in girls. Both boys and girls presented a constant frequency in back pain, but girls presented higher prevalence along the years. We found a high prevalence of poor sitting posture in male (between 72.2-89.5%) and female (between 73.3-100%). We also found that girls had poor posture due to the way they carried their school supplies. However, occurred a decrease of time spent in front of television for male (from 87% to 10.5%) and female (from 93.3% to 0%). Significant changes occurred in analysed variables over evaluation period.

Owing to the lack of longitudinal studies in Latin American countries, we aimed to evaluate back pain and its risk factors in a 3-year longitudinal study of Brazilian adolescents. We analysed data of 525 adolescents (aged 11–16 years) attending primary school (fifth to eighth grade) in Brazil. The students were administered the self-reported Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument (BackPEI) questionnaire in 2011 and at a follow-up evaluation that was conducted 3 years later (2014). Back pain was the outcome variable; the exposure variables included exercise, behavioural, hereditary and postural factors. Generalized estimating equations were used to perform a Poisson regression model with robust variance to evaluate the risk factors for back pain. The prevalence of back pain at baseline was 56% (n = 294); this increased significantly at the 3-year follow-up evaluation to 65.9% (n = 346). The frequency of experiencing back pain also significantly increased after 3 years in both boys (p = 0.002) and girls (p = 0.001). The prevalence of back pain increased significantly in adolescents up to the age of 13 years, stabilized in those aged 14 years and older and was higher among girls. A family history of back pain (in the parents), watching television for lengthy periods and carrying a backpack asymmetrically were predictors for back pain.

Purpose: To determine the psychometric properties of the layout for assessing dynamic posture (LADy). Methods: The study was divided into 2 phases: (1) development of the instrument and (2) determination of validity and reproducibility. The LADy was designed to evaluate the position adopted in 9 dynamic postures. Results: The results confirmed the validity and reproducibility of the instrument. From a total of 51 criteria assessing 9 postures, 1 was rejected. The reproducibility for each of the criteria was classified as moderate to excellent. Conclusions: The LADy constitutes a valid and reproducible instrument for the evaluation of dynamic postures in children 11 to 17 years old. It is low cost and applicable in the school environment.