The occurrence of the cervical pain syndromes in parents of children with physical disability in the population of Poland

Abstract

Background: Pain in the cervical spine area is one of the main health problems of inhabitants of Western Europe. The necessity of parents' taking care of a child with physical disability is connected with parents' exposure to the factors affecting the risk of occurrence of pain in the cervical spine.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze whether there are differences in the occurrence of cervical spine pain between the group of parents of children with physical disability and parents of children without a disability.

Method: The research included a group of parents of school-aged children with physical disability (n = 47) and a group of parents of children without disability (n = 69), aged between 29 and 60 years from the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland). The people taking part in the research were asked to complete two questionnaires: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for the cervical spine and Neck Disability Index (NDI) questionnaire. Means, standard deviations, and ranges to compare scores across groups were calculated.

Results: The mean VAS score among parents of children with physical disability was 4.22 (SD = 3.23) compared to 2.16 (SD = 2.31; p < .001) among parents of children without physical disability. Similarly, mean NDI scores were 19.6 (SD = 15.12) and 9.68 (SD = 8.84; p < .001), respectively.

Conclusions: The parents of children with physical disability are to a greater extent exposed to the occurrence of cervical spine pain. Therefore, suitable training as regards ergonomics, especially during lifting, transferring and transporting children might be beneficial to these parents.

Keywords: Cervical spine; Pain complaints; Parents; Physical disability; Taking care.