Primary prevention, education, and low back pain among school children.

After a survey in 1986, a primary educational prevention program for low back pain (LBP) was implemented over a 3 year period in a primary school setting in Switzerland. In 1989 a second survey was carried out to evaluate the effect of the intervention. One thousand seven hundred and fifty-five (1755) children received a questionnaire, 1716 (97.7%) were returned. Recollection of participation in the prevention program was significantly associated with reported increased prevalence of LBP (p 0.000). Simultaneously, there was a significant reduction in the utilization of medical care for LBP (p < 0.05).