Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 May 16;12(10):1036.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare12101036.

Assessment of the Effects of Physiotherapy on Back Care and Prevention of Non-Specific Low Back Pain in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

José Manuel García-Moreno  1 , Inmaculada Calvo-Muñoz  2 , Antonia Gómez-Conesa  3 , José Antonio López-López  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of the Effects of Physiotherapy on Back Care and Prevention of Non-Specific Low Back Pain in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

José Manuel García-Moreno et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) in children and adolescents has increased in recent years, and the evidence of the physiotherapy interventions in back care needs to be updated. Our main goal was to quantify the effects of preventive physiotherapy interventions on improving behavior and knowledge related to back care and prevention of NSLBP in children and adolescents. Based on two previous meta-analyses, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, PEDro, Web of Science, LILACS, IBECS, PsycINFO, and IME databases and several journals were searched. Two researchers independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias in the studies using the RoB2 tool. Data were described according to PRISMA guidelines. A total of 24 studies (28 reports) were included. In the posttest, the behavior variable obtained an overall effect size of d+ = 1.48 (95%CI: 0.40 to 2.56), and the knowledge variable obtained an effect size of d+ = 1.41 (95%CI: 1.05 to 1.76). Physiotherapy has demonstrated beneficial impacts on behavior and knowledge concerning back care and to prevent NSLBP in children and adolescents. Interventions focusing on postural hygiene and exercise should be preferred, especially those that are shorter in number of weeks, more intense, and incorporate as many intervention hours as possible.

Keywords: adolescents; children; low back pain; meta-analysis; non-specific low back pain; physiotherapy; prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram. Process of identification and selection of studies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of effect sizes for measures of behaviour in the posttest [22,23,24,25,30,32,33,34,35,36,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Funnel plot for the behaviour in the posttest.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of effect sizes for measures of knowledge in the posttest [22,24,25,30,31,32,33,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,46,48,49].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Funnel plot for the knowledge in the posttest.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Minghelli B. Low back pain in childhood and adolescence phase: Consequences, prevalence and risk factors—A revision. J. Spine. 2017;6:1–4. doi: 10.4172/2165-7939.1000351. - DOI
    1. Hwang J., Louie P.K., Phillips F.M., An H.S., Samartzis D. Low back pain in children: A rising concern. Eur. Spine J. 2019;28:211–213. doi: 10.1007/s00586-018-5844-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Calvo-Muñoz I., Kovacs F.M., Roqué M., Gago Fernández I., Seco Calvo J. Risk Factors for Low Back Pain in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review. Clin. J. Pain. 2018;34:468–484. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000558. - DOI - PubMed
    1. O’Sullivan P.B., Smith A.J., Beales D.J., Straker L.M. Association of Biopsychosocial Factors with Degree of Slump in Sitting Posture and Self-Report of Back Pain in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study. Phys. Ther. 2011;91:470–483. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20100160. - DOI - PubMed
    1. O’Sullivan P., Smith A., Beales D., Straker L. Understanding Adolescent Low Back Pain from a Multidimensional Perspective: Implications for Management. J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2017;47:741–751. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2017.7376. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources