Postural education programmes with school children: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal deformities and back pain have been a growing problem in childhood. Objetives: The present study undertakes a scoping review to identify scientific studies on school children’s postural education programmes, focusing on methodologies used, identifying the implementation key factors and gaps, and the results of those programmes.Methodology: The PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) was used in the scoping review. Five online databases were used to identify papers published since 2013. Eligibility criteria were defined, and the search strategies were drafted. Results: A total of 86 publications were initially identified, and after duplicates elimination, 45 papers remained. To increase the consistency, three researchers screened these 45 publications, and 34 papers were excluded after reading titles and abstracts. Therefore, the full texts of the 11 papers were analysed in detail for this study. The postural education programmes mainly focus on acquiring knowledge and the different teaching methodologies used. However, the few follow-up studies do not reveal consistent results regarding the maintenance of postural health competencies to effectively prevent pain and spine deformities in childhood and adolescence. Conclusions: This scoping review made it possible to analyse methodologies, key factors and gaps, and the outcomes of postural education programmes. From the results of this systematic review, a programme will be designed and applied to pre-school age children to evaluate the effects of improving postural control development and postural health promotion.