Clinical trial NCT04954612: Musculoskeletal Problems in School Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Official title: Musculoskeletal Problems and Associated Factors in Children Aged Between 6-13 Years During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Children
Musculoskeletal Disorder
Keywords: COVID-19
Remote education
Ergonomics
Lead sponsor: Gaziosmanpasa Research and Education Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER_GOV
First posted: 2021-07-08
Enrollment: 1225
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 13
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: A sample size of 1225 participants was calculated by assuming a musculoskeletal pain prevalence of 15% among children between the ages 6-13, with a confidence limit of 95% with a margin of error 2%.

Brief summary: During COVID-19 pandemic, in the lockdown period, reduced physical activity and obesity were reported in children.

In Turkey, face to face education was ceased after March 16, till the end of the previous academic year and education was tried to be substituted remotely.

A temporary lockdown was implemented for children and young people under the age of 20, between April 3 and June 5 2020. At 45 days following the lockdown of children, 72% of the parents with children aged 6-13 years stated that their screen time had increased to a mean of 6.4 hours per day.

Engaging more time in physical activity, and less in sedentary and leisure screen time was found to be associated with less anxiety during pandemic.

Before 2020-2021 academic year, government and educators increased their preparedness for the second and third waves and improved the technological infrastructure. Depending on grades, preferences of the family, primary education continued remotely between November 2020 and July 2021.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether musculoskeletal complaints are increased in school-age children during the pandemics and whether there is a relationship between the decreased level of physical activity, increased screen time, poor posture and musculoskeletal complaints.

Detailed description: A survey assessing musculoskeletal pain in children in the last 1 month, and associated factors including presence of non-ergonomic postures during online education was structured by two physiatrists and a public health specialist after the review of the relevant literature. Several paediatric pain and musculoskeletal assessment tools were reviewed.

The survey consisted of a total of 66 questions including sociodemographic characteristics of the children and family (17 items), education hours, used technological device (7 items), screen time and physical activity (5 items), presence of musculoskeletal pain (27 items) and ergonomics (10 items).

Questions regarding the musculoskeletal pain were constructed based on The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire extended version (NMQ-E) which was translated and validated into Turkish. Pain or discomfort questions experienced in the nine body parts with binary choices (yes or no) were used. The figure in NMQ-E was used to describe body regions (the neck, shoulder, upper back, elbow, wrist/hand, low back, hip/ thigh, knee, ankle/foot) and pain questions were structured accordingly on this body diagram.

The questionnaire was created using the Qualtrics program. The survey was piloted among ten participants to ensure its readability and ease of completion. After obtaining permissions from Ministry of National Education of Turkey, survey link was shared with the school principles so that they distributed the survey to the guardians of children via smart phones or email. The survey will be available during two months and a reminder will be sent once a week.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Being parent or guardian of a child between the ages of 6-13 years
* Having access to the Internet
* Being literate
* Giving consent to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* Children going to special education school

Primary outcomes:
measure: Presence of musculoskeletal pain
timeFrame: One day
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Istanbul
country: Turkey
facility: Gaziosmanpasa Training and Research Hospital
state: Gaziosmanpasa
Study officials:
affiliation: Koc University School of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
name: Özden Özyemişçi Taşkıran, Prof
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Koc University School of Medicine Department of Infectious Disease
name: Sibel Sakarya, Prof
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Koc University School of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
name: Zeynep Turan
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: Koc University School of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
name: Esra Giray, Assoc Prof
role: STUDY_CHAIR
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