ABSTRACT
Back pain is a significant burden on industrialised countries. If the symptoms and causes of back pain could be identified at an early stage the opportunity for remedial action would be improved. It has been shown that a strong predictor of having future back pain is a previous history of such symptoms, (Troup et al. 1987). A large portion of adult sufferers report a first onset of back pain in their early teenage years or in their twenties. (Papageorgiou, et al. 1996). It is commonly perceived that back pain amongst young people is uncommon. However epidemiological studies have found high prevalence rates of back pain, (Brattberg and Wickman, 1992, Troussier et al. 1994). The Robens Institute of Health Ergonomics is conducting a three-year study at the University of Surrey in
conjunction with the Arthritis and Rheumatism Councils’ Epidemiology Research Unit at the University of Manchester.
