Minghelli B1,2,3
1Piaget Institute, Silves, Portugal, 2School of Health Jean Piaget Algarve, Silves, Portugal, 3Research in Education and Community Intervention (RECI), Lisbon, Portugal
Background: The school environment may predispose young people to develop musculoskeletal disorders due to prolonged posture adopted in the classroom, improper transportation and excessive weight in backpacks and inappropriate school furniture.
Purpose: Up to date, there are only a few studies about the effectiveness of school programs in improving students´ posture and knowledge about ergonomic issues, thus there are still no guidelines and little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. This study aims to verify the effectiveness of a school physiotherapy program in the improvement of postural habits in students.
Methods: The "Healthy Backs" Program aimed to improve the mechanics and the static and dynamic body posture while performing basic daily tasks, at school and at home. Students from three 5th year classes were evaluated, the sample consisting of 57 adolescents aged between 10 and 13 years (10.74±0.79), 32 (56.1%) were girls. The instruments consisted of theoretical and practical tests about ergonomic issues related to tasks performed at school and at home. Theoretical test consisted of 13 multiple-choice questions in which each correct question was worth 1 value and for each wrong question was assigned a score of -1. Practical test involved 5 tasks that evaluated sitting posture, lifting of heavy and light load, displacement of heavy object, transportation, storage and weighing of backpack, making a total of 15 evaluated items, each one worth a point. Data collection occurred before the beginning of the program and 1 week after its end. For each class, three 45 minutes theoretical-practical sessions were held, with one-week intervals. The topics included spine anatomy-physiology, postural changes, ergonomic analysis of postures, material in the backpack, consequences of adopting an incorrect posture, among others.
Results: The values obtained before and after the intervention were: for the theoretical test, 7.36±3.16 to 10.16±2.95 (p≤0.001), for the practical test, 5.77±2.57 to 11.53±2.55 (p≤0.001) and for the backpack weight, 5.18±1.33 to 4.94±1.55 (p=0.097).
Conclusion(s): Data revealed that this program was effective in improving postural habits in students, in school and at home. Since there is an increase in the prevalence of low back pain and postural changes in adolescents, it is necessary to carry out intervention actions aimed at promoting and preventing health, considering that most health problems associated with the environment and lifestyles (modifiable risk factors) can be minimized or prevented by increasing health literacy.
Implications: Low back pain (LBP) has become a growing public health problem in young people, and present a negative impact, being commonly associated with the demand for health care, medication use, increased absenteeism and with a decrease in quality of life. The decision makers must understand that investments in prevention actions are generally less expensive than those applied in treating diseases and that spending on prevention represents an investment in the future. Physiotherapy at school emerges with the objective of promoting knowledge and health conditions in this specific area of LBP and postural changes, optimizing the technical and personal skills of teachers and students, and developing individual and collective health potential.
Keywords: school program, physiotherapy, musculoskeletal disorders
Funding acknowledgements: Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the scope of the project UID/Multi/04587/2013
Purpose: Up to date, there are only a few studies about the effectiveness of school programs in improving students´ posture and knowledge about ergonomic issues, thus there are still no guidelines and little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. This study aims to verify the effectiveness of a school physiotherapy program in the improvement of postural habits in students.
Methods: The "Healthy Backs" Program aimed to improve the mechanics and the static and dynamic body posture while performing basic daily tasks, at school and at home. Students from three 5th year classes were evaluated, the sample consisting of 57 adolescents aged between 10 and 13 years (10.74±0.79), 32 (56.1%) were girls. The instruments consisted of theoretical and practical tests about ergonomic issues related to tasks performed at school and at home. Theoretical test consisted of 13 multiple-choice questions in which each correct question was worth 1 value and for each wrong question was assigned a score of -1. Practical test involved 5 tasks that evaluated sitting posture, lifting of heavy and light load, displacement of heavy object, transportation, storage and weighing of backpack, making a total of 15 evaluated items, each one worth a point. Data collection occurred before the beginning of the program and 1 week after its end. For each class, three 45 minutes theoretical-practical sessions were held, with one-week intervals. The topics included spine anatomy-physiology, postural changes, ergonomic analysis of postures, material in the backpack, consequences of adopting an incorrect posture, among others.
Results: The values obtained before and after the intervention were: for the theoretical test, 7.36±3.16 to 10.16±2.95 (p≤0.001), for the practical test, 5.77±2.57 to 11.53±2.55 (p≤0.001) and for the backpack weight, 5.18±1.33 to 4.94±1.55 (p=0.097).
Conclusion(s): Data revealed that this program was effective in improving postural habits in students, in school and at home. Since there is an increase in the prevalence of low back pain and postural changes in adolescents, it is necessary to carry out intervention actions aimed at promoting and preventing health, considering that most health problems associated with the environment and lifestyles (modifiable risk factors) can be minimized or prevented by increasing health literacy.
Implications: Low back pain (LBP) has become a growing public health problem in young people, and present a negative impact, being commonly associated with the demand for health care, medication use, increased absenteeism and with a decrease in quality of life. The decision makers must understand that investments in prevention actions are generally less expensive than those applied in treating diseases and that spending on prevention represents an investment in the future. Physiotherapy at school emerges with the objective of promoting knowledge and health conditions in this specific area of LBP and postural changes, optimizing the technical and personal skills of teachers and students, and developing individual and collective health potential.
Keywords: school program, physiotherapy, musculoskeletal disorders
Funding acknowledgements: Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the scope of the project UID/Multi/04587/2013
Topic: Musculoskeletal: spine; Education; Paediatrics
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Piaget Institute
Ethics committee: Research in Education and Community Intervention (RECI)
Ethics number: 04587/2013
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
