Associated factors of subjective feeling on backpacks among primary students

Objective To explore associated factors of subjective feeling on backpacks from students and parents.Methods Five primary schools were randomly cluster selected and all the students in one class were selected from each grade in all schools.Subjective feeling included general sense of fatigue and musculoskeletal disorder (neck,shoulder,back,and waist).Self-designed questionnaires were carried out.Results The risk of general sense of fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort among students who reported heavy backpacks was 3 times higher than the students who did not.The risk of neck,shoulder and back discomfort among students with long backpack straps was 1.5 times higher than students with moderate backpack straps.Among children with parents who seldom guided their kids to adjust backpack weight,the risk of general sense of fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort was about 1.5 times higher than those whose parents often gave advises.The risk of general fatigue was more common among students with parents of poor knowledge.Conclusion Results suggest that reducing schoolbag weight,improving parent's awareness,strengthening supervision and guidance on backpack usage would be beneficial for student's general health.