Effects of back care education in elementary schoolchildren

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a back care edu cation programme, consisting of six sessions of 1 h each, in fourth- and fi fth-grade elementary schoolchildren. Testing consisted of a practical perfo rmance and a back care knowledge test. Forty-two subjects and 36 controls p erformed a pre-test and were tested within 1 wk after the programme. To mon itor effects and follow-up effects on a larger sample, 82 different pupils were tested within 1 wk after the programme and 116 other children 3 mo aft er. Both larger samples were compared with one group of 129 controls. Inter rater reliability for the test items of the practical assessment was high; intraclass correlation coefficients varied from 0.785 to 0.980. In the pre/ post design study, interaction between time and condition was significant f or the sum score of the practical assessment and for the knowledge test (p < 0.001), with higher scores for the intervention group (15% improvement fo r the knowledge test score, 31.6% for the practical sum score). Significant ly higher sum scores for the knowledge test and for all practical assessmen t items were found in the intervention groups, tested within 1 wk and 3 mo after the programme, in comparison with the control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The effectiveness of a primary educational prevention programme back care principles was demonstrated in this study. Effectiveness, long-t erm outcomes and behavioural changes need further evaluation to optimize ba ck care prevention programmes for elementary schoolchildren.