Prevalence and associated psychosocial and health factors of chronic pain in adolescents: Differences by sex and age

Abstract

Background Chronic pain is a common issue in adolescents. Prevalence of pain and associated factors present differently in sex and age subgroups; however, the interaction of sex and age combined has not been thoroughly assessed. This study aimed to identify psychosocial and health factors associated with chronic pain in younger and older adolescent girls and boys. Methods Students from five schools in grades 5–10 self‐completed a pain survey. Participants were 2,280 adolescents (52% girls) aged 10–18 years (M = 12.95, SD = 1.84). Data were analysed using multivariate logistic regression models. Results Chronic pain was present in 33% of participants. The risk of chronic pain increased by 29% in girls, compared to 16% in boys, per year of age (p = .039). Overall, depression (OR = 2.05, p < .001), anxiety (OR = 1.51, p < .001), lower school satisfaction (OR = 1.41, p = .034) and sleep issues (OR = 2.34, p < .001) were associated with chronic pain. Stratified analyses identified unique significant associations between chronic pain and psychosocial factors. In boys aged 10–13 years, higher socioeconomic status (OR = 1.76, p = .024) and poorer school performance (OR = 1.60, p = .027) were uniquely important; in girls aged 10–13 years, lower school satisfaction (OR = 2.92, p = .003) was associated with pain, and in older girls aged 14–18 years, anxiety (OR = 1.74, p = .009) was significantly associated with pain. When these differences were assessed statistically, only lower school satisfaction had significant differences between subgroups (p = .049). Conclusions Many psychosocial and health factors are similarly important, with few differences, for chronic pain in girls and boys at different stages of adolescence. Significance We report evidence that negative psychosocial and health factors are related to a higher prevalence of chronic pain in adolescents. Furthermore, the relationships between anxiety, socioeconomic status, lower school satisfaction and lower school performance with pain may vary between adolescents of differing sexes and ages. Understanding how possible risk factors for chronic pain contribute differently to the pain experience of adolescent girls and boys is an important step towards lowering the prevalence of this common health condition.

Factors associated with physician consultation and medication use in children and adolescents with chronic pain: A scoping review and original data

“…No prior study has investigated this factor; therefore, this important finding needs further attention in future studies, particularly those focusing sequential effects. Despite previous research demonstrating the link between emotional well‐being and pain prevalence in children and adolescents (Borgman et al., 2018; Wager et al., 2020), the role of psychological characteristics in taking analgesic medication for chronic pain has not been considered in any prior study. In our data, higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as interference with sleep, were significantly associated with medication consumption, but were not significant in the context of other characteristics.…”

“…For this study, 3,324 students at the five participating schools were eligible. Of these, 2,299 students were willing to participate in the study and 2,280 adolescents (52.2% female; M age = 13.0, SD = 1.8) could be included for analysis (see Wager et al., 2020 for a detailed description of exclusion criteria). Additionally, 1,464 parents (81.1% mothers, 17.9% fathers and 1.0% others) were included in the study.…”

“…Thirty‐three percent ( n = 749) of adolescents had chronic pain and were included in further analyses presented in this paper. Demographic and psychological characteristics of the adolescents with chronic pain and the parent sample ( n = 451) are described in Table 1 (see Wager et al., 2020 for a detailed description of the whole sample).…”

Mit Wissen zum Ziel: Pädiatrische Schmerzedukation

“…Julia Wager und Boris Zernikow HINTERGRUNDWISSEN Schätzungen zufolge leidet fast jedes dritte Kind (33 %) in Deutschland unter chronischen Schmerzen. Ihr Schmerz persistiert also seit mindestens drei Monaten; er ist ständig präsent oder tritt in sehr kurzen Abständen auf [4].…”

Bibliometric Analysis of Research on the Comorbidity of Pain and Inflammation

“…Pain as defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience usually related to actual or potential tissue damage [1][2][3]. Chronic pain is a growing health problem, which limits the quality of life and employment opportunities of those suffering from this disease and may affect 30% of adults worldwide [4,5].…”