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Table 4

Data from the epidemiologic literature on back pain at least once in children

Mikkelsson et al. [ 17 ] Hakala et al. [ 18 ] Petersen et al. [ 19 ] Stanford et al. [ 20 ] Dunn et al. [ 16 ] Kjær et al. [ 7 ]
Country FinlandFinlandSwedenCanadaUSADenmark
Design Cross sectional + follow upCross sect. + follow upCross sectionalLongitudinal (8 yrs)Longitudinal (3 m/3 yrs)Cross sectional + follow up
Study sample Pupils from 19 primary schoolsPopulation register. All Finns born on adjacent dates in summerRandomized cluster sample of pupilsNon-institutionalized civilian populationGirls/boys initially 11 yrs randomly selected in GH databasePrimary/secondary school. 38 state schools in one municipality
Response rate 83%77%97%?49%62%, 57%, 58%
Valid sample size 175662677112124881333479, 439, 443
Data collection QuestionnaireQuestionnaireQuestionnaireComputer ass. Interview + QuestionnaireTelephone survey + QuestionnaireInterview + Questionnaire
Age group 9, 12 (mean: 9.8, 11.8)12,14,16,18 (mean: 12.6, 14.6, 16.6, 18.6)6-1310-1811-149,13,15 (mean: 9.7, 13.1, 15.7)
Definition of back pain Pain/ache in neck, upper back (UB), low back (LBP)Back or neck pain the past half a yearBackache last 6 monthsBackache past 6 monthsBack pain a whole day or more in the past 3 monthsAny spinal pain:
Recall period 3 months6 months6 months6 months3 months1 month
Prevalence estimates never/seldom BP (UB, LBP)BP + NP (12y)BP (6-13y)BP (12-13y)BP (11-14y) 78%BP (9y, 13y, 15y) 67%
Overall: monthly 33%, 28%, 48%
Frequency WeeklyWeekly≥ 1 Weekly:WeeklyLow/high
Once 10% (low prob.)
Several/frequently/continually 12.7% (Only mentioned in the discussion section)Girls: 6-16% Boys: 4-10%Grade 0: 2% Grade 1: 3% Grade 2: 3% Grade 3: 6% Grade 4: 7.5% Grade 5: 14% Grade 6: 17%17.6%1,3% (high prob.)