FREQUENCY OF RISK FACTORS AND NECK PAIN IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

Introduction: Neck pain is a very complex and important public health problem in our modern societies. Any structure of the neck, such as intervertebral discs, ligaments, muscles, facet joints, and nerve roots, can represent the source of pain. In epidemiological studies evaluating the general population, the one-year incidence of neck pain can be as high as 40%. Because of the tendency for neck pain to become a chronic problem, it is important to identify risk factors that could promote prevention and early diagnosis. Methods: The paper is a non-experimental (qualitative) research or a scientific literature review. For the purposes of this work, a search was conducted of the relevant databases Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Med-Line. The listed databases were searched using the keywords "neck pain", "frequency of neck pain", "risk factors", "children and adolescents". Results: The results include a presentation and analysis of thirteen published scientific articles in the period 2014-2020. The studies used for this paper were published in Sweden, Lebanon, Brazil, Thailand, Tunisia, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Germany, and Australia. Conclusion: By reviewing the scientific literature, it can be concluded that there is an increased frequency of risk factors for neck pain in children and adolescents. The most common risk factors are female gender, flexed head position, use of mobile and other devices, insufficient physical activity, ergonomic factors, psychological and social factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]