Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on children's lifestyles. Some studies have reported psychological changes in children after the pandemic, but information on musculoskeletal problems is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of knee pain and changes in physical activity after the spread of COVID-19 among elementary and junior high school students in Japan.

Methods

Knee pain and amount of physical activity were recorded on a monthly basis between August 2019 and February 2021 in children aged 8–14 years using a self-administered questionnaire. The amount of physical activity was scored using the Hospital for Special Surgery Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale (HSS Pedi-FABS). The period until February 2020 was defined as “Before pandemic,” and the period from March 2020 was defined as “After pandemic.” The incidences of knee pain and HSS Pedi-FABS scores before and after the COVID-19 pandemic were compared. Additionally, we compared the prevalence of knee pain and HSS Pedi-FABS scores according to sex and age.

Results

We enrolled 886 and 881 participants before and after the pandemic, respectively. The prevalence of knee pain among the participants before and after the pandemic was 6.7% and 7.9%, respectively (p = 0.032). The mean HSS Pedi-FABS scores before and after the pandemic were 14.8 and 14.5, respectively (p = 0.005). Participants aged 14 years had a significantly lower incidence of knee pain (p = 0.013) and significantly higher HSS Pedi-FABS scores (p < 0.001) after the spread of COVID-19.

Conclusions

In elementary and junior high school students, increase in the incidence of knee pain and decrease in the amount of physical activity after the spread of COVID-19 were observed.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19大流行对日本儿童和青少年膝盖疼痛发生率和体力活动水平的影响：一项前瞻性观察研究

背景

2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行对儿童的生活方式产生了深远影响。一些研究报告了大流行后儿童的心理变化，但有关肌肉骨骼问题的信息很少。本研究旨在调查日本小学生和初中生在 COVID-19 传播后膝盖疼痛的发生率和体力活动的变化。

方法

2019 年 8 月至 2021 年 2 月期间，使用自填问卷每月记录 8-14 岁儿童的膝盖疼痛和体力活动量。使用特殊外科医院儿科功能活动简述量表（HSS Pedi-FABS）对体力活动量进行评分。2020 年 2 月之前的时期被定义为“大流行之前”，2020 年 3 月之后的时期被定义为“大流行之后”。比较了 COVID-19 大流行前后的膝盖疼痛发生率和 HSS Pedi-FABS 评分。此外，我们根据性别和年龄比较了膝关节疼痛的患病率和 HSS Pedi-FABS 评分。

结果

我们在疫情之前和之后分别招募了 886 名参与者和 881 名参与者。大流行之前和之后参与者的膝盖疼痛患病率分别为 6.7% 和 7.9% (p = 0.032)。疫情前后的平均 HSS Pedi-FABS 评分分别为 14.8 和 14.5 (p = 0.005)。COVID-19 传播后，14 岁的参与者膝盖疼痛发生率显着降低 (p = 0.013)，HSS Pedi-FABS 评分显着升高 (p < 0.001)。

结论

在小学生和初中生中，观察到COVID-19传播后膝盖疼痛的发生率增加，体力活动量减少。