Postural Habits and Related Joint and Muscle Pain Among School-age Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Background and aims: Current lifestyles, with the growing use of contemporary technologies, haveresulted in changes in people’s behavior, causing them to become increasingly sedentary and developunhealthy body habits. Posture is an essential variable determining an individual’s physical andemotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate postural habits and any related jointand muscle pain among school-aged students.Methods: An online questionnaire was utilized to measure participants’ postural habits and relatedjoint and muscle pain. The questionnaire was completed by ۴۳ ۶۶۰ school-aged students (۱۵ ۵۳۲boys and ۲۸ ۱۲۸ girls in the age range of ۸-۱۷ years) by a non-randomized convenient samplingmethod through Google Forms via social media on the schools’ platform in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiariprovince, Iran, in the middle of ۲۰۲۲. The questionnaire inquired about body postural patterns and anyassociated joint or muscle pain.Results: The majority of participants (۷۷%) reported spending most of their time in the sitting position.Overall, ۵۷% of the students reported that they did not maintain the correct posture during their dailyactivities. The majority of respondents (۵۴%) reported feeling some joint or muscle pain. The greatestpain was reported in the neck (۲۸%), upper back (۱۴%), and lower back (۱۳%).Conclusion: The findings indicated that schools and the medical profession may need to screenstudents for health risks such as poor postural status. Further, information related to bad posture shouldbe provided to children, their families, and healthcare professionals to take care of them.

کلیدواژه ها:

Musculoskeletal pain ، Sitting position ، Public health ، Injury prevention ، Corrective exercises