Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
1006665084
Author
Ehrmann-Feldman, Deborah,1956-
Title
Risk factors for the development of low back pain in adolescents
Degree
Ph. D. -- McGill University, 1998
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2000]
Description
3 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
A previous history and earlier age of onset of low back pain are associated with chronic low back pain in adults. As such, preventing low back pain in adolescence may have a positive impact in adulthood. The objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of low back pain in a cohort of adolescents and to ascertain whether it was associated with increased growth spurt, decreased muscle flexibility and trunk strength, physical activity, and work. A prospective cohort design with urban high school students was conducted in Montreal, Canada; 502 students were evaluated at three separate times, six months apart. The students completed a questionnaire which addressed health issues of a musculoskeletal nature as well as lifestyle and psychosocial variables. They were also measured for: height, weight, leg and back flexibility, and trunk strength. Questions on low back pain referred to the previous six months and a frequency of occurrence of at least once a week was considered to represent positive reporting. Cumulative incidence of low back pain was then defined as the sum of incident reporting in the two six-month periods, excluding those who reported low back pain at study entry. A multivariate analysis (general estimating equations analysis) was used to model the repeated measures dichotomous outcome as a function of age, gender, smoking status and the repeated measures exposure variables: increased growth, flexibility, strength, activity, work. Of the 377 adolescents who did not complain of low back pain at the initial evaluation, 65 developed substantial back pain over the course of the year (cumulative incidence 17%). Risk factors associated with development of low back pain were: high growth (relative risk 3.00, 95% confidence interval (C.I.) 1.47-6.11), smoking (relative risk 2.47, C.I. 1.31-4.66), working (relative risk 2.19, C.I. 1.12-4.28), and tight quadriceps femoris (relative risk 1.04, C.I. 1.01-1.07). We conclude that low back pain in adolescents is common. Modifying such risk factors as smoking and poor quadriceps flexibility may potentially serve to prevent the development of low back pain in adolescents.
ISBN
0612444279
9780612444270