Investigating the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain Among Iranian Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Musculoskeletal pain is very common among students and adolescents. The present systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among Iranian children and adolescents. All articles on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in Iranian adolescents were searched in the Google Scholar, four Iranian databases and five international English-language databases using the keywords of “pain”, “musculoskeletal disorders”, “low back pain”, “adolescents”, “students”, and a combination of these keywords. The obtained data were analyzed by Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. The findings showed that out of 9 studies found in this systematic review and meta-analysis, 6 articles were about low back pain, 6 articles about neck pain, and 3 articles about shoulder pain, respectively. According to the findings, 25.4% (95% CI: 19.0 to 33.0) of the children experienced pain; the prevalence rates of low back pain, knee pain, and the shoulder pain were 26.2% (95% CI: 14.3 to 43.0), 22% (95% CI: 14.5 to 32.0), and 29.3% (95% CI: 20.1 to 40.7) in Iranian adolescents, respectively. Considering the high prevalence of pain among Iranian adolescents, it is necessary to carry out appropriate interventions for pain prevention among this age group.