“If I could hear my back…” – a two-year follow-up effectiveness study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25758/set.314Keywords:
Back pain, Backpack, Adolescents, Health promotionAbstract
Background – The prevention of back pain in children and adolescents is a growing scientific field, where evidence is still limited. The sustainability and development of health promotion programmes should be supported by effectiveness studies. Aim – To evaluate the effectiveness of the program “Se as minhas costas falassem…” (translation: “If my back could talk…”) two years after their implementation. Methods – Longitudinal study with comparative analysis of data. Sample: the 7th-grade student population (N=584) of Caldas da Rainha municipality region, which corresponds to the 5th-grade students of the 2006/07 school year. Results – In the knowledge dimension, no significant losses were found. Complaints of back pain were reported by about 40% of the students, and 63,9% of those referred to the “backpack weight” as the main cause of complaint. A reduction in the percentage of students carrying heavy backpacks was found, and there was an increase in students carrying backpacks better adjusted to their backs. Discussion and Conclusion – The results confirm other studies that evaluated the effectiveness of the program “Se as minhas costas falassem…” The maintenance of the behaviour changes two years after the implementation of the program confirms the capacity of the students to adopt health protective behaviours, and consolidates the effectiveness of this health promotion program. We recommend, however, that schools should strive to offer the necessary conditions for the students to effectively apply the competencies acquired in this health promotion program that demands behavioural changes. The evidence on the effectiveness of this program, reported in several studies, should support and guide the decision-makers to integrate, in the health programmes, the health of the “back”.
Downloads
References
Jonsson E. Back pain, neck pain: an evidence-based review. Stockholm: SBU; 2000.
Hakala P, Rimpelä A, Salminen JJ, Virtanen SM, Rimpelä M. Back, neck, and shoulder pain in Finnish adolescents: national cross sectional surveys. BMJ. 2002 Oct;325(7367):743.
Backpain.org.uk. Care for your back. Backpain.org.uk; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 7]. Available from: www.backpain.org.uk
Chansirinukor W, Wilson D, Grimmer K, Dansie B. Effects of backpacks on students: measurement of cervical and shoulder posture. Aust J Physiother. 2001;47(2):110-6.
Lima ML. Atitudes. In: Vala J, editor. Psicologia social. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbekian; 1993. p. 167-99.
Noronha T, Vital E. Fisioterapia na saúde escolar: dos modelos às práticas. Arq Fisioter. 2008;1(4):11-28.
Vital E, Melo MJ, Nascimento AI, Roque A. Raquialgias na entrada da adolescência: estudo dos factores condicionantes em alunos do 5º ano [Back pain in early adolescence: conditioning factors]. Rev Port Saúde Públ. 2006 Jan-Jun;24(1):57-84. Portuguese
Noronha T, Vital E. “Se as minhas costas falassem…”. In: Bonito J, editor. Educação para a saúde no século XXI: teorias, modelos e práticas. Évora: Universidade de Évora - CIEP; 2008. p. 21-33.
Vital E, Noronha T. O efeito do Programa de Promoção da Saúde “Se as minhas costas falassem…” na modificação dos factores de risco das dores nas costas: um ensaio controlado. In: Bonito J, editor. Educação para a saúde no século XXI: teorias, modelos e práticas. Évora: Universidade de Évora - CIEP; 2008. p. 34-48.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Saúde e Tecnologia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The journal Saúde & Tecnologia offers immediate free access to its content, following the principle that making scientific knowledge available to the public free of charge provides greater worldwide democratization of knowledge.
The journal Saúde & Tecnologia does not charge authors any submission or article processing charges (APC).
All content is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND license. Authors have the right to: reproduce their work in physical or digital form for personal, professional, or teaching use, but not for commercial use (including the sale of the right to access the article); deposit on their website, that of their institution or in a repository an exact copy in electronic format of the article published by Saúde & Tecnologia, provided that reference is made to its publication in Saúde & Tecnologia and its content (including symbols identifying the journal) is not altered; publish in a book of which they are authors or editors the total or partial content of the manuscript, provided that reference is made to its publication in Saúde & Tecnologia.
