Effect of nursing intervention on low-back pain among children and adolescents

Low back pain [LBP] in children and adolescents is a common problem that is frequently reported to the physician. Approximately 23% of elementary school children complain of backache and that percentage rises to 33% among the secondary school population. Little researches have been carried out to prevent LBP through health education. So, the aims of this study were to: 1] identify selected factors responsible for LBP; and 2] determine the effect of nursing intervention [health instructions] on LBP among children and adolescents. This study included 100 children and adolescents with mechanical LBP from the orthopedic clinic at Sporting Students' Hospital in Alexandria. Three tools were used to collect the necessary data: A structured interview sheet, anthropometric measurements sheet and Word Graphic Rating Scale for pain assessment. The results of the selected factors related to LBP revealed that the majority of the studied children were taking wrong position during study and in front of computer and carried the school bag on their back or shoulder. In addition, all children carried heavy school bag where its mean weight was 9.702 kg. Two thirds of the children were sitting for more than one hour in front of computer and had stress either at school or home. Winter was the season for LBP. It was found that nursing intervention had positive desirable effect on alleviating LBP. There are no statistical significant differences between the degree of pain and the selected factors responsible for LBP. Bases on these findings nursing instructions are recommended to be continuously recycled and considered in the plan of LBP care