Determining the Relationship between Carrying School bags and Busculo skeletal Pains in 12-15 year old students

An increase in weight of school bags may lead to changes in body position. To compensate this stress, the musculoskeletal system must react appropriately. The purpose of the present study was to compare the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among children and identify the risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 800 secondary school children, aged 12 to 15 years, selected by cluster random sampling in four areas of Shiraz, Iran. The researcher instrument consisted of a questionnaire and body map for evaluating musculoskeletal pains. Data were analyzed using Kruskal- Wallis and Mann-Whitney test. The results revealed that 80.6% of the students had pain correlation with carrying the school bags. 40.8% experienced pain while carrying their school bags, 27.2% expressed continuous pain and 32% of them felt pain whenever they put off their bags. According to the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, the prevalence of pain in the shoulders had the highest rate which was similar to the results of several studies.