Change i Perceived Stress in School-age Students When Adding Physiotherapists to a School's Health Team.

Change in Perceived Stress Level and Stress-related Symptoms in Elementary School Students During Active Stress Prevention Work With the Addition of a Physiotherapist to the School's Student Health Team.

School stress and performance requirements have been shown to contribute to mental illness among children and young people.

Student health teams have an important role regarding mental health of children and young people. Swedish student health teams include various health and pedagogical professionals, but physiotherapists are uncommon, despite the good effects school-related physical activity interventions have had on reducing anxiety and improving well-being in children and young people.

Haga School, Dals-Ed has now employed physiotherapists as part of the student health team to support students in learning to define, reduce and manage stress.

The purpose of the research project is to investigate changes in perceived stress level and stress-related symptoms, as well as study results and absence from school during two years for students in grades 4 to 9 at Haga School. A questionnaire will be sent out on four occasions over two years. Group level statistics on study results and school absence will be compared with years previous to the introduction of the school physiotherapist. The research contributes to increased knowledge about effects of having a physiotherapist as part of a student health team in Sweden.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stress-related Problem

Detailed Description

School stress and performance requirements have been shown to contribute to mental illness among children and young people.

Student health teams have an important role regarding mental health of children and young people. Swedish student health teams include various health and pedagogical professionals, but physiotherapists are uncommon, despite the good effects school-related physical activity interventions have had on reducing anxiety and improving well-being in children and young people.

Haga School, Dals-Ed has now employed physiotherapists as part of the student health team to support students in learning to define, reduce and manage stress.

The purpose of the research project is to investigate changes in perceived stress level and stress-related symptoms, as well as study results and absence from school during two years for students in grades 4 to 9 at Haga School. A questionnaire will be sent out on four occasions over two years. Group level statistics on study results and school absence will be compared with years previous to the introduction of the school physiotherapist. The research contributes to increased knowledge about effects of having a physiotherapist as part of a student health team in Sweden.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 80

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Ed, Sweden, 66830
    • Haga School

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 9 years to 16 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All registered students in grade 4-9 at Haga school Dals-Ed, Sweden 2022-2025.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Registered students in grades 4-9 at Haga School in Dals-Ed, Sweden

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in perceived stress	Measured with single question on questionnaire with 4 possible levels to choose from, ranging from "not at all" to "very much".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Reasons for stress	Single question about stressors chosen from a list of 7 stressors or no stressors	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
School stress factors School stress factors School stress factors	Single question about factors that contribute to perceived stress in school, chosen from a list of 16 stressors.	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stress-related symptoms	Measured with number of stress-related symptoms chosen from a list of 7 symptoms or no symptoms.	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups
Prevalence of specific stress-related symptoms	Number of students who report each specific symptom from a list of 7 symptoms or no symptoms.	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups
Stress-alleviating factors	Single question regarding handling of stress symptoms, chosen from list of 9 suggestions or open-ended answer.	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups
Headache prevalence	Single question regarding prevalence of headache during the last month with 5 possible levels, ranging from "never" to "always".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Stomach-ache prevalence	Single question regarding prevalence of stomach-ache during the last month with 5 possible levels, ranging from "never" to "always".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Prevalence of irritability	Single question regarding irritation or bad mood during the last month with 5 possible levels ranging from "never" to "always".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Prevalence of depressive feelings	Single question regarding feeling sad or depressed feelings during the last month with 5 possible levels ranging from "never" to "always".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Sleeping habits	Single question about sleep quality with 5 possible answers ranging from "very bad" to "very good".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Well-being at school	Single question regarding well-being at school with 5 possible levels, ranging from "very bad" to "very good".	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Physical activity	Single question about amount of physical activity during the last 7 days, with 8 possible levels, ranging from "less than 1 hour" to "more than 10 hours"	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
Transportation to school	Single question about commuting to school with four possible answers, walking, bicycling, bus, car/moped.	Change between inclusion and 8 month, 12 and 20 month follow-ups.
School absence	Group level school absence retrieved from school statistics. Measured in number of days. days.	Change between school-year 2021-2022 and 2023-2024.
Study results	Group level study results for each grade. Measured in grades E-A.	Change between school-year 2021-2022 and 2023-2024.
Eligibility upper-level secondary school	Group level eligibility for upper-level secondary school programs for students in Grade 9. Measured in number of students eligible for upper-level secondary school.	Change between school-year 2021-2022 and 2023-2024.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Vastra Gotaland Region
• Collaborators: Dals-Ed Municipality
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Anna Bergenheim, PhD, Region Västra Götaland, University of Gothenburg

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 12, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): October 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 3, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 3, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 5, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescent; Child; Physical therapy modalities; Mental health; School health services
• Other Study ID Numbers: VGFOUFBD976982

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: There is no plan to share individual participant data with other researchers than the participating research group.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No