Comparison of Female Students’ Skill about Spinal Care Behaviors

The lifetime prevalence of Low Back Pain (LBP) in children and adolescents increases significantly between 12 and 18 years old. It is argued that spinal healthy behavior could prevent from this problem.  This study aimed to assess the effective of an training program on spinal care behaviors of female students.

Method and Materials: 

The present study is a clinical trial study that was performed on 104 fifth grade female students in district 22 of Tehran. Participants entered into the study after learning about the objectives and procedures of the study and were divided into two groups of intervention and control (52 students in each group). Just intervention group were trained regarding skills of backpack carrying. Data were collected at 4 time points of before, immediately, three and six months after training in both groups and analyzed using SPSS software version 24 .

This study showed that there was significant difference in terms of backpack carrying skill in intervention group compared to other group (p < 0.00). Furthermore, a positive change in back-related behavior was found for the intervention group from pre-test to post test and all follow-up assessments (p<0.001, ηp2=0.25). By contrast, participants of the control group did not experience significant improvement in this regards.

The present study revealed that carrying skill can be improved by skill training of students regarding how to carry backpack correctly. However, it is strongly recommended these kind of researches should be done in future to be able to design more effective studies.