Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2014
Prevalence and associated characteristics of recurrent non-specific low back pain in Zimbabwean adolescents: a cross-sectional study.
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- An update on the prevalence of low back pain in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analyses.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Pooled it
- Paediatric chronic pain prevalence in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Risk factors for low back pain among elementary school students in western Iran using penalized logistic regression.Epidemiology and health · 2020Article
- The burden of low back pain among undergraduate physiotherapy students at the University of Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study.BMC research notes · 2018Article
- Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among registered general nurses: a case of a large central hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe.BMC research notes · 2018Article
- Content validity and test-retest reliability of a low back pain questionnaire in Zimbabwean adolescents.Archives of physiotherapy · 2017Article
- Increased low back pain prevalence in females than in males after menopause age: evidences based on synthetic literature review.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2016Article
- Functional consequences and health-care seeking behaviour for recurrent non-specific low back pain in Zimbabwean adolescents: a cross-sectional study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2016Article
- Are parents and adolescents in agreement on reporting of recurrent non-specific low back pain in adolescents? A cross-sectional descriptive study.BMC pediatrics · 2015Article
- Differences in personal and lifestyle characteristics among Zimbabwean high school adolescents with and without recurrent non-specific low back pain: a two part cross-sectional study.Archives of physiotherapy · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUntil recently, non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) in adolescents was considered a rare phenomenon unlike in adults. The last two decades has shown an increasing amount of research highlighting the prevalence in this age group. Recent studies estimate lifetime prevalence at 7%-80%, point prevalence at 10%-15%, and prevalence of recurrent NSLBP at 13%-36%. In Zimbabwe, there is dearth of literature on the magnitude of the problem in adolescents. Therefore, the aims of the study were to determine the prevalence (lifetime, point, recurrent) and the nature of recurrent NSLBP reported by adolescents in secondary schools.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire. A cluster sample of 544 adolescents (age 13-19 years) randomly derived from government schools participated in the study. Lifetime prevalence, point prevalence and prevalence of recurrent NSLBP were presented as percentages of the total population. Exact 95% confidence intervals were given. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the effect of gender and age on prevalence.
resultsThe students' response rate was 97.8%. The lifetime prevalence was 42.9% [95% confidence interval = 40.8-44.6] with no significant difference between sexes [χ2 (1) =0.006, p=0.94]. However, NSLBP peaked earlier in female students (13.9 years) than in male students (15 years) [t (226) = 4.21, p<0.001]. About 10% of the adolescents reported having an episode of NSLBP on the day of the survey. However, female students (14.2%) were more affected on the day [χ2 (1) =11.2, p<0.001]. Twenty-nine percent of the adolescents experienced recurrent NSLBP with 78% experiencing at least three episodes in the last 12 months. On average, recurrent NSLBP reported was mild in intensity (4.8 ± 1.9) on the visual analogue scale (VAS) and short in duration. Recurrent NSLBP was associated with sciatica in 20.9% of adolescents.
conclusionsNSLBP is a common occurrence among Zimbabwean adolescents in secondary schools. It increases with chronological age and is recurrent in the minority of adolescents. Although much of the symptomatology may be considered benign, the existence of recurrent NSLBP in adolescents before their work-life begins should be a concern to health professionals, teachers and parents.
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