Study: MRI highlights effects of backpacks on the spine of children
Reduced disc height and greater lumbar asymmetry and curvature can be attributed to common backpack loads for school-aged children, said a study published in the January edition of Spine.
Timothy Neuschwander, MD of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues conducted the repeated measures design study to evaluate the lumbar spine response to typical school backpack loads in healthy children utilizing an upright MRI scanner (Upright MRI, Fonar).
“Children commonly carry school backpacks of 10 percent to 22 percent [of their] bodyweight,” wrote the authors, adding that despite growing concerns among parents regarding the safely of increasing backpack loads, there are no imaging studies that have pointed out the effects that the weight of the bags can have on the spine in children, and the significant amount of pain that can potentially be caused as a result.
The study recruited three boys and five girls, between the ages of nine and 14, all of whom underwent multiple T2 weighted sagittal and coronal MRI scans of the lumbar spine while standing.
The first sets of scans were completed on the participants without backpacks, standing upright after having been at rest for half an hour. The second, third and fourth scans were carried out after a 4 kg, 8 kg and 12kg backpack was placed on the shoulders of the participants.
The 4 kg, 8 kg and 12 kg weighted backpacks that were utilized for the study represented approximately 10, 20 and 30 percent of body weight for the patient population respectively, noted the authors.
The researchers recorded disc compression and lumbar asymmetry as the main outcome measures for the study, and found that increasing backpack loads significantly compressed lumbar disc heights as well as increased lumbar asymmetry in the participants, the authors said.
Additionally, the researchers determined that lumbar curvature to the right or to the left, which was found in each participant, remained consistent regardless of backpack load.
The authors administered a visual-analogue scale to rate pain (0-no pain, 10-worst pain) to each of the participants, and wrote that the subjects reported “significant increases” in back pain associated with backpack loads of 4 kg, 8 kg and 12 kg.
Timothy Neuschwander, MD of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues conducted the repeated measures design study to evaluate the lumbar spine response to typical school backpack loads in healthy children utilizing an upright MRI scanner (Upright MRI, Fonar).
“Children commonly carry school backpacks of 10 percent to 22 percent [of their] bodyweight,” wrote the authors, adding that despite growing concerns among parents regarding the safely of increasing backpack loads, there are no imaging studies that have pointed out the effects that the weight of the bags can have on the spine in children, and the significant amount of pain that can potentially be caused as a result.
The study recruited three boys and five girls, between the ages of nine and 14, all of whom underwent multiple T2 weighted sagittal and coronal MRI scans of the lumbar spine while standing.
The first sets of scans were completed on the participants without backpacks, standing upright after having been at rest for half an hour. The second, third and fourth scans were carried out after a 4 kg, 8 kg and 12kg backpack was placed on the shoulders of the participants.
The 4 kg, 8 kg and 12 kg weighted backpacks that were utilized for the study represented approximately 10, 20 and 30 percent of body weight for the patient population respectively, noted the authors.
The researchers recorded disc compression and lumbar asymmetry as the main outcome measures for the study, and found that increasing backpack loads significantly compressed lumbar disc heights as well as increased lumbar asymmetry in the participants, the authors said.
Additionally, the researchers determined that lumbar curvature to the right or to the left, which was found in each participant, remained consistent regardless of backpack load.
The authors administered a visual-analogue scale to rate pain (0-no pain, 10-worst pain) to each of the participants, and wrote that the subjects reported “significant increases” in back pain associated with backpack loads of 4 kg, 8 kg and 12 kg.