GONCALVES, Eliane Cristina de Andrade    SILVA, Diego Augusto Santos. Prevalence and factors associated with low lumbar strength in adolescents. J. Hum. Growth Dev. []. 2017, 27, 2, pp.182-188. ISSN 0104-1282.  https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.112680.

INTRODUCTION: Low back pain is a multifactorial disorder and is one of the most common musculoskeletal discomfort in adolescents and adults. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with low levels of lumbar force in adolescents. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study involving 909 adolescents aged 14 to 19 years enrolled in public schools in São José, of Santa Catarina State - Southern Brazil. Lumbar force was analyzed by the lumbar extension test developed by a Canadian research group, which proposes different cutoffs according sex. Independent variables were sex, age, socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, screen time, physical activity, aerobic fitness and mass body index. For data analysis, binary logistic regression was used, with significance level of 5%. RESULTS: The prevalence of low levels of lumbar force was 45.2%, being 36.2% for boys and 53.1% for girls. The population subgroups most likely to present low levels of lumbar force were females (OR: 1,99; CI95%: 1,52 to 2,60) and those adolescents with overweight (OR: 1,48; CI95%: 1,12 to 1,96. CONCLUSION: Almost half of the students had low levels of lumbar force. The girls, the adolescents with overweight and with excessive time in front of the screen most likely present low levels of lumbar force. The innovation of this study is modifiable factors such as the excessive time screen and overweight may be used to promote health interventions to improve levels of lumbar strength of youth.

: motor activity; physical fitness; low back pain; adolescent health; spine; pain.

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