The relation between extracurricular school activities including time spent with tablets/mobile devices and musculoskeletal lumbar and cervical spinal pain in high school children in Cyprus.

BACKGROUND

The study investigates the incidence and associated disability of cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) spinal pain in adolescents in Cyprus, examining the relationship of pain with the modern way of life and the use of tablets and mobile devices.

METHODS

Following ethical committee approval, 245 high school children between the ages of 11–18 completed a validated questionnaire. Participants were randomly selected from six different high schools in Cyprus. The study examined the incidence and functional impact of cervical and lumbar pain in adolescents in Cyprus. The relationship between cervical and lumbar spine and time spent on mobile devices, the posture adopted when using mobile devices, sport participation and parental history was also evaluated.

RESULTS

Analysis of the results revealed a high incidence of spinal pain among adolescents which significantly affected their curricular and extracurricular activities. No significant correlation was found between the time spent using tablets and mobile devices and the incidence of musculoskeletal pains. In addition to this, no significant correlation was found between the standing and sitting posture adopted when using tablets and mobile devices, sport activities and the incidence of musculoskeletal pains. Logistic regression analysis showed that cervical pain and female gender were significant predictors of lumbar pain and that lumbar pain and parental history were significant predictors of cervical pain.

CONCLUSIONS

The study reports that 66% of the participants had lumbar pain and 58% cervical pain. Health care professionals are informed that the time spent on mobile devices, the posture adopted when using mobile devices and sport participation do also does not seem to be a significant contributing factor (p value of less than 0.05). Other factors should be considered in the aetiology of musculoskeletal spinal pain in adolescents.