Another neglected symptom among the overweight young: an analysis of the self-reported anterior knee pain scores of the secondary school children

Objective: Knee pain is the most common joint complaint among the young and is linked with excessive weight by the World Health Organization. The study aimed to define the prevalence of anterior knee pain in secondary school children and search its’ relations to weight and academic performance. Method: The cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted in Adana, between Sept 15 and Oct 15, 2020. Middle school students aged between 10 and 18 years were included. Anterior knee pain was assessed using the Anterior Knee Pain Scale short form (AKPS-SF), and the numerical rating scale (NRS) was used for pain intensity. Data were collected by questionnaires sent by e-mail. Results: There were 709 replies eligible for analysis. The NRS mean score was 0.78±1.47 for 249 (35.12 %) participants who reported knee pain. The number of students with an AKPS-SF score of ≤40 in the study group was 46 (6.40%). AKPS-SF scores showed weak negative linear associations with weight and the school year (r=-0.346/p=0.019, and r=-0.292/p=0.049, respectively), and no correlations were found with academic performance. Conclusion: The study has shown that more than a third of the students reported various levels of knee pain. The inverse correlation of AKPS-SF with weight and the weak link with the school year might attract the attention of healthcare givers to pay more attention to knee examination and help avoid future impairments in the knee joints of school age children.