Low back pain in adolescents and association with sociodemographic factors, electronic devices, physical activity and mental health()

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of low back pain and to analyze the association with the individual, sociodemographic variables, electronic devices, habitual practice of physical activity, and mental health problems. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with 1,628 students in public schools in the city of Bauru, SP, Brazil. The following data were collected: 1. demographic and socioeconomic aspects; 2. Use of electronic devices; 3. habitual physical activity level (Baecke); 3. mental health (SDQ). 4. low back pain (Nordic Questionnaire). Descriptive analyzes and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of low back pain was 46.7% (95% CI: 44.27 to 49.11); men showed a prevalence of 42.0% (95% CI: 36.63 to 43.41) and women 58.0% (95% CI: 49.73 to 56.51), a statistically significant difference. The variables associated with pain in the low back region were: female gender (PR = 1.70), daily TV use for more than 3 hours (PR = 1.17), use of laptop computer (PR = 1.40), use of the cell phone in the supine position (PR = 1.23), use of the cell phone in semi-supine position (PR = 1.49), daily cell phone use for more than 3 hours (PR = 1.36), use of tablet (PR = 1.67), daily tablet use for more than above 3 hours (PR = 1.46), and clinically important mental health problems (PR = 2.62). CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of low back pain in high school students and striking association with female sex, electronic devices, and mental health problems.