Abstract :
Aim: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors associated with the occurrence of shoulder pain, neck pain, upper back pain and lower back pain with particular focus on carrying schoolbags. Method and Materials: A questionnaire containing a range of MusculoSkeletal Pain (MSP) related information was designed specifically for a group of schoolchildren aged 11 to 20 years and distributed to Grade 7 to Grade 13 students attending three main secondary education schools in Mauritius over the period July 2017 to February 2018. A total of 1048 questionnaires were circulated out of which 849 were useable. The study analyzed the impact of socio-economic characteristics, student perception of use of tablets, type of schoolbag, private tuition, performance, duration of bag carriage and anthropometric characteristics on musculoskeletal pain. Logistic regressions models were applied to inspect how those recorded factors contribute to the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain. Findings: The main findings in this paper indicate that students from single-sexed girl and mixed schools relative to boys’ schools, student perception of tablet use, backpack schoolbag relative to handbag and shoulder-bag, performance, total weight and excess weight of schoolbags have significant positive impact on musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: The results point towards the importance of raising awareness among students to achieve a positive musculoskeletal health. Information obtained is deemed to affect schoolbook and equipment-carrying behaviour and future choice of schoolbag type.
