Low back pain in schoolchildren. An epidemiological study.

A prospective epidemiological study was conducted to determine the prevalence of backache and the aetiological role of several contributing factors. 1715 schoolchildren of both sexes answered a previously validated questionnaire. Approximately 33% of our sample had already suffered from low back pain (LBP) at some time. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between LBP and age, female sex, time spent watching TV, smoking and competitive sports.