Assessing Back Pain, Healthy Back Behavior and its Cognitive Determinants among Pupils in Iran.

Aims: Back pain is an important public health problem and the leading cause of adult disability in the worldwide; that is on the rise among the adolescent population. This study concentrated on assessing the back pain, healthy back behavior and its cognitive determinants among 5th-grade girls in Iran. Instruments Methods: This was a cross-sectional school-based study conducted in capital Tehran`s region 22, through the convenience sampling of 610 pupils. A self-reported questionnaire was used to assess demographic information, back care knowledge, self-efficacy, fear-avoidance beliefs, and behaviours. Descriptive statistical analysis included frequency and percentage. Crosstabs and chi-square tests were used to broadly assess the data related to the presence of back pain and identify factors associated with back pain. The data was analyzed by SPSS. Findings: In all 610 fifth-grade female elementary school children were entered into the study. The results showed that 23.6% of pupils (n=144) reported back pain during last week. In addition, only 1.8%, 33%, 18.5%, and 31.6% of participants had a high level of the back care knowledge, selfefficacy, belief, and behavior respectively. There was a significant relationship between the back pain and back behavior (P=0.004); and between back pain and self-efficacy (p o.oo1). Conclusions: This study concluded that healthy back behavior as well as its main determinants should be enhanced among pupils