Low back pain among adolescent Egyptian football players (survey study)

Author: 
Athar Tarek Mohamed, Sahar Ahmed Abd AL Bary, SalwaFadl Abdel Majeed and Aly M. EL Zawahry

Objective: Low back pain affects millions of people and is one of the most common maladies prompting patients to seek medical attention. The relationship between physical activity and LBP in adolescents appears to be curvilinear. The particular type of physical activity has also been related to risk of LBP in adolescents. The incidence of low back pain (LBP) in athletes has been shown to vary greatly, depending on the physical demands and skill sets necessary for different sports. Low back pain rates rise in football, there is a lack of studies specifically investigating non-specific LBP in male professional football players. This research study aimed to investigate the prevalence of low back pain among adolescent Egyptian football players. Methods: This survey study was conducted among a total of 180 adolescent football players aged from 14 to 19 years old was recruited from 10 clubs in Cairo through 8 weeks. Three variables were assessed included the level of pain, functional disability level and ROM of lower back. Data collected with the use of the Arabic version of O’swestry Low Back Disability Questionnaire in a paper form, Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Smartphone inclinometer. Results: Out of one hundred and eighty subjects, only one hundred and seventy players participated in this study. In a last month prevalence of low back pain among the adolescent Egyptian football players, we found 66.47% prevalence of LBP with minimal disability. Regarding pain, 66.50% had LBP with mild pain level with a moderate correlation between the subject lumber spine ROM and LBP. Conclusion: This study concluded that our results further strengthen the evidence that LBP is already a common complaint in the population of adolescents. The overall prevalence of low back pain among adolescent Egyptian football players was high. The overall disability level among the players due to LBP was minimal. Moreover, our study contributed to be evidence that football game is one of the sport games that may lead to LBP in Egypt among the adolescent athletes.

Paper No: 
2621