Dor Musculoesquelética na Coluna Vertebral em Crianças e Adolescentes: uma análise de rede

Abstract

Introduction: Musculoskeletal pain is common in children and adolescents, with prevalence ranging from 4% to 40%. Back pain-related symptoms rank 5th in terms of years lived with disability among children aged 10 to 19 years, affecting approximately 2.443 million people. Additionally, it is associated with high healthcare costs and can lead to persistent pain in adulthood. Objective: To analyze the relationship between musculoskeletal pain in the spine in children and adolescents through a network approach. Methods: The study population consists of children and adolescents of both genders, who are regularly enrolled in elementary and high school. Children and adolescents of both genders aged between 10 and 16 years were included. The Back Pain and Body Posture Assessment Instrument (BackPEI-CA) and the Instrutherm pressure algometer, model DD-500, were used to assess pain intensity and threshold, respectively. Data were tabulated, and JASP was used for statistical analysis. A network analysis was conducted to investigate descriptive relationships between individual and contextual factors with self-reported symptoms of back and neck pain. Results: 185 participants were included in the analysis. The network analysis observed that the variable 'Lower Back Pain' was negatively correlated with 'Family Pain History' (-0.14) and positively correlated with 'Sex' (0.19) and 'Neck Pain' (0.12). The 'Sitting Position When Using Cell Phone/ tablet' showed a negative correlation with 'Neck Pain' (-0.19). A negative correlation was observed between 'Sex' and 'Physical Activity Outside School'. Centrality metrics indicated that 'Age' (betweenness = 1.420) and 'Sex' (betweenness = 1.278) had the highest betweenness values. Conclusion: The study concludes that sex is a significant variable in back pain among children and adolescents, with a higher prevalence among girls, possibly due to sexual maturation and lower levels of physical activity compared to boys, who are more active. Additionally, the pain is influenced by poor posture while writing at school and using electronic devices. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations of the analysis.