Physical, lifestyle and psychosocial determinants of spinal pain development in adolescents [ 2005 - 2008 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Leon Straker (Principal investigator) ,  Dr Garth Kendall ,  Dr Kevin Murray ,  Prof Peter O'Sullivan

Brief description This project aims to understand the development of back and neck pain in adolescence. By the age of 16 around half of all adolescents have suffered back pain and one third have suffered neck pain. For many adolescents this pain is disabling and over a third of sufferers miss school, miss recreation and seek medical help. The current understanding of back and neck pain in adolescence is quite limited - restricting the effectiveness of initiatives to prevent adolescents having to suffer spinal pain and of treatment of those adolescents unlucky enough to have an episode. Better understanding and interventions for adolescent spinal pain will also have longer term implications by reducing adult spinal pain. Four out of 5 adults will experience spinal pain. In the USA treating adult back pain is the 4th largest health care cost. Many adults with chronic back pain had their first episode during adolescence. A better understanding of spinal pain in adolescence may help prevent it developing into a lifelong disability. We will collect information from 2,000 adolescents on their experience of back and neck pain and on potential physical, lifestyle and psychosocial risk factors. We believe factors such as their posture, muscle capacity, TV and computer use, mental health and social situation all combine to influence whether a person develops back or neck pain. The project is unique as it will not only collect a broad range of information during adolescence, but will also make use of a large database of health, developmental and psychosocial information already collected from these children since birth. With a better understanding of the development of spinal pain we will be able to develop guidelines to help prevent these problems. We will also be able to develop better treatment plans for sub-groups of adolescents with a particular combination of risk factors. Together these initiatives will assist in understanding and breaking the pathway to chronic spinal pain.

Funding Amount $AUD 682,800.00

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant