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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Pediatric Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1459232

The association between the site of back pain and number of painful sites with among school adolescents

Provisionally accepted
Tatiana Rehder Gonçalves Tatiana Rehder Gonçalves 1,2*Mauro Felippe Felix Mediano Mauro Felippe Felix Mediano 3Rosely Sichieri Rosely Sichieri 2Diana Barbosa Cunha Diana Barbosa Cunha 2
  • 1 Institute in Collective Health Studies, Center for Health Science, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janario, Brazil
  • 2 Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 3 National Institute of Infectious Diseases Evandro Chagas, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: The potential consequences of back pain (BP) are poorly described in adolescents. This study evaluated the association between BP sites (neck, thoracic and low back) and number of painful sites with missed school classes, interference in physical activities, seeking healthcare, and medication use among school adolescents.Methods: This cross-sectional study included 350 students (5th to 9th grade) of a public school in Brazil. Information on BP site and outcomes were self-reported. Logistic regression analyses were performed.Results: Participants reporting at least one painful site in spine were 74.9% (n=262), with mean age of 12.73 +1.67 (55.7% were girls). Most of them reported pain in two sites (n=100; 28.6%) and the most frequent pain site was neck (n=223; 63.7%). Thoracic and low BP were associated with missing school classes, interference in physical activities, seeking healthcare, and medication use, while neck pain showed no association. The number of painful sites was associated with daily activities and healthcare with those gradients increasing with the number of painful sites.Conclusion: Thoracic and low BP were associated with daily activities, seeking healthcare, and medication use in early adolescence.

    Keywords: Back Pain, Neck Pain, Thoracic pain, Low Back Pain, Adolescent, Daily Living

    Received: 10 Jul 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Gonçalves, Mediano, Sichieri and Cunha. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tatiana Rehder Gonçalves, Institute in Collective Health Studies, Center for Health Science, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janario, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.