Prevalence of neck, shoulder and low back pain among school students in Reethapuram, Kanyakumari district

Abstract

Background: In India most of the children with age of 4-18 years old attend school except weekends and public holidays and they spent at least 6-7 hours daily in school. This study investigates the prevalence of neck, shoulder and low back pain among secondary school students in Reethapuram, Kanyakumari District. Method: A cross sectional study was administered to 100 secondary school students in Reethapuram, Kanyakumari District using a standardized Nordiac questionnaire which seeks information on the prevalence of neck, shoulder and low back pain.Results: Total respondents consist of 42 males and 58 females in between 13 years to 17 years old. The highest prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was neck pain (66%), followed by shoulder pain (60%) and low back pain (22%). 31 male students (31%, OR: 0.45) and 35 female students (35%, OR: 0.54) were affected by neck pain. Conclusion: Results show that musculoskeletal pain is a common increasing problem in adolescents especially girls, suggesting more problems in the young adults of the future. Besides, females have greater health and body consciousness than males. Thus, they tend to complaint more than males.