THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BACK PAIN IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF 2,001 AMERICAN YOUTH

Background: Back pain is a common condition that affects millions of Americans each year, including both adult and pediatric populations. To our knowledge, there has been no study that has epidemiologically studied back pain in a representative cohort of American children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to establish the prevalence of back pain in American children and adolescents 10-18 years old and investigate for any demographic or physical activity predictors of increased risk. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based investigation was performed in 2,001 children and adolescents, equally split by age and sex, and representing census-weighted distributions of state of residence, race/ethnicity, and health insurance status. Overall prevalence of back pain (at present and any time in past year) was calculated, and comparative analyses were performed to investigate any relationship between back pain and age, sex, backpack use, race/ethnicity, BMI, insurance status, and level of activity. Results: Two thousand and one subjects completed the survey of which 1,000 were male (50%) and 1,001 were female (50%). The mean age of the respondents was 14.0±2.6 years and the mean BMI was 22.4±8.1. A majority of subjects (1,633; 81.6%) stated that they participated in a sport or physical activity, with basketball being the most common sport followed by soccer, baseball, dance, and football. In total, 743 subjects (37.1%) stated that they had back pain within the last year, most commonly in the lumbar region (64.9%). The mean age of the subjects with back pain was significantly higher than those who did not experience back pain in the previous year (14.76±2.4 vs. 13.6±2.6 years old, P