Non-specific musculoskeletal pain in preadolescents. Prevalence and 1-year persistence

Abstract

A 1-year follow-up study of 1756 third- and fifth-grade schoolchildren was conducted with a structured pain questionnaire to assess the prevalence and persistence of self-reported musculoskeletal pain symptoms and disability caused by pain. At follow-up, 1626 (92.7%) children participated in the study. Pain at least once a week persisted in 270 (52.4%) of the 564 children who reported musculoskeletal pain at least once a week in at least one part of the body at baseline. Of the regional pain symptoms, neck pain had highest persistence and, in girls, significantly more than in boys. Persistence of pain was not related to school grade. Widespread pain, determined as in the criteria for fibromyalgia, was found in 132 children (7.5%) and persisted in 35 children (29.7%, 95% CI 21.9-38.4) at follow-up. Disability was more severe in children with pain symptoms in more than one area. This study showed that about half of the preadolescents complaining of musculoskeletal pain at least once a week at baseline had persistent pain symptoms at follow-up. The prognosis of widespread pain in preadolescents was almost the same as the previous findings in adults.

Genetic and environmental influences on non-specific low back pain in children: a twin study

“…However, twins do not appear to differ markedly from singletons for most types of characteristics [10,31]. In addition, the prevalence of weekly LBP in this 11-year-old twin population (6.6%) is very similar to that found in a representative sample of Finnish schoolchildren aged 10-12 (6.4%) [27]. Accordingly, we have no reason to believe that our results would not generalise to singletons.…”

“…The questions on musculoskeletal pain were taken from a questionnaire developed by Mikkelsson et al [27]. The brief test-retest reliability of the questions in detecting those who have pain at least once a week has been found to be satisfactory [Cohen's Kappa (k) = 0.9].…”

“…The brief test-retest reliability of the questions in detecting those who have pain at least once a week has been found to be satisfactory [Cohen's Kappa (k) = 0.9]. The concurrent validity of the questionnaire compared with interviews has also been studied; the observed agreement of results with the pain questionnaire with the interview technique was 86% and k was 0.67 [27].…”

“…In school surveys, the prevalence of self-reported low back pain (LBP), using a 3-month to 1-year recall period, ranges from 6 to 16% in 10-12 olds [27,30] and from 12 to 67% in older adolescents [1,33]. A significant proportion of these children will eventually experience pain consequences in the form of activity limitations, health care consultations and school absenteeism [27,37].…”

“…A significant proportion of these children will eventually experience pain consequences in the form of activity limitations, health care consultations and school absenteeism [27,37]. Previous long-term follow-up studies have found that children with LBP are at an increased risk of having back pain in adult life compared to their peers with no back pain [7,14,17].…”