Cross-National Trends of Chronic Back Pain in Adolescents: Results From the HBSC Study, 2001-2014

Chronic back pain is a common problem that negatively impacts the wellbeing of many adolescents. Prior research suggests that the prevalence of chronic back pain has increased over the last decades, but research on this issue is scarce, single country-based, and has yielded inconsistent results. This study aimed to examine trends in the prevalence of chronic back pain over time in adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15, using data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from 650,851 adolescents, retrieved from four waves (2001/02, 2005/06, 2009/10 and 2013/14) of HBSC data from 33 countries or regions.  The prevalence of back pain was higher (1) in each successive survey over time (18.3% in 2001/02, 19.3% in 2005/06, 20.4% in 2009/10 and 21.6% in 2013/14), (2) in girls (21.9%) compared to boys (17.8%), and (3) in older adolescents compared to younger ones (14.5% in 11-year-olds, 19.6% in 13-year-olds and 25.5% in 15-year-olds). The increase in prevalence from 2001/02 to 2013/14 was more marked in older girls compared to younger girls, and in older boys compared to younger boys, and it ranged between 1% for 11-year-old boys and 7% for 15-year-old girls. More resources should be allocated to the prevention and treatment of chronic back pain in adolescents, especially for older girls. PERSPECTIVE: The prevalence of chronic back pain in adolescents has increased from 2001-2002 to 2013-2014, especially in older adolescent girls. These findings underline the need of further research to understand the reason behind the increasing trend, and what programs are better suited to prevent chronic back pain among adolescents.