Chronic musculoskeletal pain rarely presents in a single body site: Results from a UK population study

Carnes, D, Parsons, S, Ashby, D, Breen, A, Foster, N, Pincus, T, Vogel, S and Underwood, M (2007) Chronic musculoskeletal pain rarely presents in a single body site: Results from a UK population study. Rheumatology, 46. pp. 1168-1170.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency and health impact of chronic multi-site musculoskeletal pain, in a representative UK sample. METHOD: Population postal questionnaire survey, using 16 general practices in the southeast of England, nationally representative urban/rural, ethnic and socioeconomic mix. A random selection of 4049 registered patients, aged 18 or over, were sent a questionnaire. The main outcome measures were chronic pain location, identified using a pain drawing; distress, pain intensity and disability as measured by the GHQ12 and the Chronic Pain Grade. RESULTS: A total of 2445 patients (60) responded to the survey (44 male, mean age 52 yrs); 45 had chronic musculoskeletal pain. Of those with chronic pain, three quarters had pain in multiple sites (two or more sites). Variables significantly predicting this were: age under 55, odds ratio (OR) 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4, 0.6; psychological distress (OR 1.8, CI at 95% 1.4, 2.2) and high pain intensity (OR 5.2, CI at 95% 4.1, 6.7). Only 33% of multi-site pain distributions conformed to the American College of Rheumatology definition of chronic widespread pain. CONCLUSIONS: Multi-site chronic pain is more common than single-site chronic pain and is commonly associated with other problems. Indiscriminate targeting of research and care for chronic musculoskeletal pain on single sites may often be inappropriate.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Chronic,Community survey,Multi-site,Musculoskeletal,Pain,Planning,Prevalence,Treatment
Depositing User: Dr Hilary Abbey
Date Deposited: 21 Dec 2020 13:01
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2021 18:49
URI: https://hsu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/121

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