Effects of postural education on daily habits in children. Intervention effects from the PEPE study.

Abstract

Purpose. Reducing the disease burden of unspecific low back pain (LBP) in children is of major public health relevance, due to children with episodes of LBP tend to experience chronic back pain in adulthood. Methods. The aim of the current randomised controlled trial was to investigate the effects of a 4.5 months postural education program on daily life habits related to LBP in children aged between 10 and 12 years. The study was performed in Majorca (Spain), with 253 primary schoolchildren. The overall strategy for developing the project was based on 1) intervention on classroom teachers, physical education teachers, and school management team; 2) awareness of the educational community (teachers, students, families); 3) teacher training; 4) a continuous intervention throughout the academic year. Results. Lifetime LBP prevalence rate was 54.9% in the whole study sample. Neither single postural items nor postural habits score mostly did improved after the intervention in experimental group, and also in control group. Conclusion. This telematic intervention has not managed to improve postural habits in children. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence to determine whether it is feasible to carry out telematics intervention that promotes lifestyle changes in children.