Multigroup latent class model of musculoskeletal pain combinations in children/adolescents: identifying high-risk groups by gender and age

Abstract

BackgroundTo investigate the combinations of Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) (neck, shoulder, upper and low back pain) among a sample of Iranian school children.MethodsThe MSP combinations was modeled by latent class analysis (LCA) to find the clusters of high–risk individuals and multigroup LCA taking into account the gender and age (≤ 13 years and ≥ 14 years of age categories).ResultsThe lowest and highest prevalence of MSP was 14.2% (shoulder pain in boys aged ≥14 years) and 40.4% (low back pain in boys aged ≤13 years), respectively. The likelihood of synchronized neck and low back pain (9.4–17.7%) was highest, while synchronized shoulder and upper back pain (4.5–9.4%) had the lowest probability. The probability of pain at three and four locations was significantly lower in boys aged ≥14 years than in other gender–age categories. The LCA divided the children into minor, moderate, and major pain classes. The likelihood of shoulder and upper back pain in the major pain class was higher in boys than in girls, while the likelihood of neck pain in the moderate pain class and low back pain in the major pain class were higher in children aged ≥14 years than those aged ≤13 years. Gender–age specific clustering indicated a higher likelihood of experiencing major pain in children aged ≤13 years.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the importance of gender– and age–specific data for a more detailed understanding of the MSP combinations in children and adolescents, and identifying high-risk clusters in this regard.

The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low Back Pain in Children and Adolescents in Iran: A Systematic Review

“…In five studies, the role of gender as a risk factor for LBP was mentioned [14,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] . Although this study did not clearly identify which girls or boys were most at risk, only 2 studies reported a higher prevalence of LBP for boys [11,13] and one study reported a higher rate of LBP for girls [19] . But many studies around the world have shown that in addition to gender roles, girls have been more likely to have LBP [25][26][27][28] .…”

“…Boys were more likely to develop shoulder and back pain than girls. The results of this mentioned highlighted the importance to a more accurate understanding of gender and age-specific data [11] .…”

“…Numerous studies abroad show that inappropriate body positioning during school homework, television watching, and home activities are effective factors in LBP [29][30] . In four studies age was mentioned as one of the effective risk factors for LBP [11,13,21,23] . Other studies also showed that the rate of LBP varied from less than 10% in age group under7 years to more than 50% in 16-year-old group [25] .…”

<p>A Step Towards a Better Understanding of Pain Phenotypes: Latent Class Analysis in Chronic Pain Patients Receiving Multimodal Inpatient Treatment</p>

“…This allows a detailed comparison of different models based on goodness-of-fit statistics. [31][32][33] Third, in studies of the same pain syndromes, different types of variables were used to establish subgroups. 13 The most frequently used variables for statistical subgrouping were PRO measures, findings from physical examination (i.e., pain locations), 34 and diagnostic or experimental results (e.g., pain sensitivity ratings).…”

Relationship between Musculoskeletal Disorders and Backpack Carrying among Musculoskeletal Disorders and School going Students

“…Over time, a large number of school children have increasingly been adapted to use backpacks [5] , and carrying backpack has been a common practice of the daily work tasks among school going children [7,8] . Although based on studies, backpack is an appropriate way for carrying loads on the spine since they can distribute the load symmetrically with maintaining stability [9,10] , but extensive bag weight (when the weight of the bag exceeds 10% of the child's body weight), improper its handling, using non-ergonomic backpack, and long duration of school bag carrying might lead to MSDs among school age children [8,9,11] . In general, the researchers stated that because of the peak of growth occurs during adolescent [10] , students are susceptible to MSDs and it is one of the most important and common problems among them that its prevalence is increasing [5,9,[12][13][14] , and this rate is even higher because of the carrying of backpacks in these age groups [4] .…”