Excessive cell phone use by young people causes back pain – 03/23/2023 – Equilíbrio

With the popularization of devices such as cell phones and tablets and the multiplication of video channels, games and educational applications, children and adolescents spend more and more time in front of screens. And, at these times, it is common for them to adopt inappropriate postures, which can cause, among other problems, pain in the spine.

A study financed by FAPESP and published in the scientific journal Healthcare identified several risk factors for spine health, such as using screens for more than three hours a day, the short distance between electronic equipment and the eyes, use in the lying position prone (on your stomach) and also in a sitting position.

The focus of the work was the so-called pain in the middle of the back (thoracic back pain, or TSP, in English). A total of 1,628 students of both sexes between 14 and 18 years of age, enrolled in the first and second year of high school, daytime, in the urban area of ​​the municipality of Bauru (SP), who answered a questionnaire between March and June were evaluated. from 2017.

Of these, 1,393 were reassessed in 2018. The survey found that of all participants, the one-year prevalence was 38.4%, meaning that adolescents reported TSP in both 2017 and 2018. The one-year incidence was 10.1%; that is, they did not report TSP in 2017, but were referred as new cases of TSP in 2018. Back pain occurs more in girls than in boys.

Risk factors

TSP is common in different age groups in the world’s population. It is estimated to affect 15% to 35% of adults and 13% to 35% of children and adolescents. The Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent explosion in the use of electronics have exacerbated the incidence of the problem.

Physical, physiological, psychological and behavioral risk factors or a combination of these are associated with TSP, according to several investigations. There is also strong evidence for the effects of physical activity, sedentary behavior and mental health on spinal condition. All of these factors were considered critical by the WHO (World Health Organization) in its most recent global review of evidence and guidelines.

“This work can be used to implement health education programs at different school levels, aiming to train students, teachers, employees and parents”, says Alberto de Vitta, doctor in education from Unicamp (State University of Campinas), with a postdoctoral in public health from Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista) in Botucatu and one of the authors of the article.

“This meets some objectives of the PCN (National Curriculum Parameters), according to which the school must assume responsibility for health education, identifying risk factors to personal and collective health in the environment in which they live, intervening individually or collective about unfavorable health factors and promoting the adoption of self-care habits with respect to the possibilities and limits of the body”, complements Vitta, who currently teaches and researches in the Physiotherapy department of Faculdade Eduvale de Avaré (SP) and in the postgraduate degree in Education, Knowledge and Society at the University of Vale do Sapucaí (Pouso Alegre, MG).

Information on risk factors for TSP in high school students is relevant because children and adolescents with back pain are more inactive, have lower academic performance and more psychosocial problems, points out the article. Furthermore, few studies have been performed on TSP compared with low back and neck pain. A systematic review of this type of pain identified only two prospective studies on prognostic factors.

In addition to Vitta, the article is signed by Matias Noll, Instituto Federal Goiano and the Faculty of Physical Education and Dance at the Federal University of Goiás, Manuel Monfort-Pañego and Vicente Miñana-Signes, from the University of Valencia (Spain), and Nicoly Machado Maciel, from USP (University of São Paulo).