PMC full text:

Table 2

Codes, key quotations and corresponding ICF categories

CodesKey quotationsReferenceICF category
Body functions

1. Affected sleep‘I remember having difficulties falling asleep, as I could not lie down properly. I had to fall asleep as fast as possibly, in order not to feel the pain when I turned, as that woke me up, (I: Have you tried waking up due to pain?) Yes.’#19:4b134

2. Worrying about spinal pain‘Well, I’m afraid I can’t do the same things as other children, and then I can’t play with them. It is also really difficult to bicycle home and everything…’#1:55b152

3. Pain intensity‘…It just stops like, I almost can’t breathe …’#5:55b280

4. Difficulties to define the pain*‘… One night, I was just about to go to bed, my mom asked if I was feeling alright, I told her that my back really hurt. She then said I should see a chiropractor. … It was hard to find out where it hurt so much, which was really annoying as I could not tell my mom, or the chiropractor.’#19:7b280
b780
pf

Activities and participation

5. Talking with parents‘Yes, I talked with them as I had to, and you should know that you need to be talked with…because it helps. It helped me a lot to talk with my parents about the pain’#19:14d350
d7601

6. Talking with friends‘Sometimes, I tell that I have pain in my back, so I can’t play too wildly …’#7:23d350
d7500
d7504

7. Do not want to talk with others about the pain‘… I have not talked with them … I just wanted to keep it to myself as I thought it could be really uncomfortable if other people knew that I have back pain. … It is just something one have, and they don’t like to let other people know …’#19:15d350
d710

8. Maintaining static postures‘… You sit down for many hours and when standing up or move a bit, it starts hurting really really bad …’#10:17d4150
d4153
d4154
d4155

9. Spinal load‘…it also hurts when I carry my bag, and the pain increases… (I: Is there a difference in carrying light and heavy stuff?) Yes, often if I have to carry a heavy bag, which gives me a headache ‘#7:2d430

10. Social limitation‘Sometimes when I am asked if I can play, I say no, I just want to go home and rest. I don’t say that I have back pain, I just say I think that I want to go home and rest.’#5:66d750

11. Physical limitation†‘… I can’t do the same activities, for example, running, as the boys,…’#3:44d9200
d9201
d9205
b7

12. Reduction in participation‘… I have had to stay home because I almost couldn’t stand up …’#10:12d9200
d9201
d9205

Environmental factors

13. Treatment tried/not tried‘Yes, a lot. Often I go to my mom’s chiropractor, as he puts anything in place, and stuff like that.’
‘No, not really. My mom tried to give me massage when I came home from handball as she knows where it hurts, because she is a nurse and have worked at a hospital.’
#9:8
#10:15
e580

Personal factors

14. Improving factors‘We have put less in my bag, so I only have to carry the most necessary stuff, and not even a pencil more (I: Can you feel that it helps?) Yes, it helps me, because the bag is less heavy than before, and I have less pain…’#2:107pf

15. Worsening factors‘… I will not run as much as I normally do. (I: Why not?) as I can feel that it starts to hurt more.’#14:1pf

16. Strategies to avoid pain‘When I sit down, then I first have to sit on my hands, as this somehow reduces the pain. I will then let go, which soothes the pain somewhat.’#10:20pf
Not classifiable

17. Cause of pain known/unknown‘It will hurt in my back, if I jump too much on the trampoline.’#7:8nc
‘I actually don’t think I know why I had pain. Maybe it was because I had just made a wrong movement, or something with my neck while sleeping or something. I don’t really know.’#17:4

18. Worst is movement‘The very worst, I think the worst, is to jump rope … because I have to jump up and down, up and down.’#3:54nc

19. Worst is pain‘It just hurts really bad - I can’t even go to the toilet, even though I have to (I: Is that because it hurts to walking to the toilet?) (Participant nodding).’#1:17nc

20. Worst is psychological factors‘I think it is the feeling you have in the back, as it can make a bad day worse.#15:21nc

21. Worst is social limitation‘It must be that I am unable to do the same as all of my friends – that must be the worst as I feel a bit left out.’#10:16nc
*The code ‘Difficulties to define the pain’ appears once but has been classified as both ‘Body functions’ and ‘Personal factors’.

†The code ‘Physical limitation’ appears once but has been classified under ‘Activities and participation’ and ‘Body functions’.

ICF, international classification of function, disability and health; nc, not classifiable; pf, personal factor.