Spinal pain in school children

: The investigation was carried out to determine the prevalence of back pain among the population of the school-children aged from 6 to 17 yrs. 3386 children from primary Warsaw schools randomly chosen, were investigated according to the questionnaire based on the diagnostic criteria of juvenile spondyloarthropathies (JSA). Total prevalence of spinal pain was 10.14%. Back pain occurred more frequently than the low - back and cervical pain (5.1% vs 3.44% and 3.04%). The incidence of painful episodes was highest between the age 12 - 15 yrs. Although no definite spondyloarthropathy was found among the investigated children - spinal pain occurred most frequently in those who showed one of the signs included into JSA criteria. This may imply the presence of a risk factor for developing spondyloarthropathy in the future.