Back pain in lower and upper secondary school pupils living in urban areas of Poland. The case of Poznań.

BACKGROUND To determine the lifetime prevalence and characteristics of non-specific back pain (low back pain, upper back pain) and neck pain in adolescents living in urban areas of Poland. We also studied the impact of back/neck pain on adolescents' daily activity as well as the association of back pain with computer use, watching TV, physical work, and physical activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS. A school-based questionnaire survey of back pain and physical activity, computer use, watching TV and functional disorders was distributed among 1475 randomly selected adolescents aged 13 to 20 years attending lower and upper secondary schools in Poznań, Poland. RESULTS A total of 986 (67%) teenagers reported having experienced one or more episodes of back/neck pain in their lives. Low back pain was the most common presentation. Back/neck pain symptoms appeared mostly between the 14th and 16th year of life. The daily activities mostly impaired by back/neck pain were physical activity, learning/concentration and lifting objects. No significant differences were found in computer use and physical activity between adolescents with and without a history of back/neck pain. Pain-free teenagers watched TV significantly longer. Boys with back/neck pain performed physical work more frequently than pain-free boys. CONCLUSIONS 1. Compared to adolescents and adults in other European countries, the lifetime prevalence of back/neck pain in Polish adolescents living in urban areas is similar. 2. The findings support the hypothesis that physical activity, computer use and watching TV cannot be regarded as risk factors for back/neck pain. 3. Back/neck pain may have a negative influence on the daily activities of adolescents. Nevertheless, this impact is probably temporary and adolescents seem to develop strategies for coping with pain in order to participate normally in daily activities. More detailed studies of these coping strategies are recommended.