Researchers Fiona C. Trevelyan & Stephen J. Legg set out to investigate low-back pain in New Zealand school aged children between the ages of 11 and 14 years. Their results may come as a surprise to some, and may be cause for concern as the prevalence of computers and hand-held devices grows among the younger population.
In their brief introduction, the authors note several key points of interest:
A detailed description of the study is available in the original article, available at no charge at the time of this writing from the reference and link cited below. Key methodology points include:
The data was collected, in 2002, over a 6 week period. The children were measured for height and weight, and the questionnaire took about 20 minutes to complete.
A detailed description of the study is available in the original article, available at no charge at the time of this writing from the reference and link cited below. Some key results include:
The researchers noted concern that their results differed from previous studies. They recognize that different methodologies, different questionnaire design and survey techniques, etc. could explain these differences, and suggest closer cooperation between researchers and studies in the future. Even with some differences, the authors report their results as consistent with the results of UK children studies. Further,
What Might This Mean to Ergonomists?
First, we need to recognize that this study began in 2002, wasn't published until 2010, and wasn't reviewed here until 2012, some 10 years later. This is not a comment on the researchers, but does illustrate how long it sometimes takes for scientific studies to "reach the light of day." We also need to recognize the study limitations described above. However, with these concerns in mind, this is still valuable information and contributes to a growing body of evidence that spinal pain may be on the rise in children, which could translate into increased prevalence and severity later in life.
The researchers highlight their finding that low back and neck pain were equally common in their study, but that low back pain has the potential to be longer lasting, more severe, and is more likely to interfere with life activities. The implications and motivations for this research include the mismatch between school furniture and children, as well as activities like carrying heavy backpacks. However, another concern that comes to my mind, and is in part why I selected this for review, is the potential effect of the increasing use of computers and hand-held devices, including among children. Hand-held devices have been implicated in growing reports of neck pain among adults (e.g., see Study: Tablet Use Causes Significant Head and Neck Flexion). What might be the effect of these devices on children?
What are the implications for the future, and how will ergonomists play a role in improving that future by doing what we do best — improving the interface between people, including kids, and technology?
Fiona C. Trevelyan & Stephen J. Legg, The prevalence and characteristics of back pain among school children in New Zealand, Ergonomics, 53(12), pp. 1455-1460, DOI:10.1080/00140139.2010.528455.
At the time of this writing, this article was available at no charge from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00140139.2010.528455
This article originally appeared in The Ergonomics Report™ on 2012-05-29.