Prevalence of self‐reported chronic pain among adolescents: Evidence from 42 countries and regions

Gobiņa, Inese; Villberg, Jari; Välimaa, Raili; Tynjälä, Jorma; Whitehead, Ross; Cosma, Alina; Brooks, Fiona; Cavallo, Franco; Ng, Kwok; Matos, Margarida Gaspar de; Villeruša, Anita

doi:10.1002/ejp.1306

Cited by 142 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…Recent epidemiological surveys indicate chronic pain affects between 44% and 74% of adolescents (Gobina et al, 2019;Swain et al, 2014), and childhood chronic pain is associated with progression of pain into adulthood (Grimby-Ekman et al, 2018;Sillanpaa & Saarinen, 2018;Stanford, Chambers, Biesanz, & Chen, 2008). Therefore, it is important to determine contributing factors so that at-risk individuals can be identified and tailored interventions established at an early stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wager

Brown

Kupitz

et al. 2020

European Journal of Pain

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wager

Brown

Kupitz

et al. 2020

European Journal of Pain

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“…Chronic pain is defined as persistent or recurrent pain lasting more than 3 months [4]. Internationally comparable data indicate that persistent pain is highly prevalent among adolescents [5]. Research indicates that the prevalence of persistent pain among adolescents in Western countries ranges from 20 to 35%, is clearly higher in girls than in boys and increases with age [6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-related quality of life in adolescents with persistent pain and the mediating role of self-efficacy: a cross-sectional study

Grasaas

Helseth

Fegran

et al. 2020

Health Qual Life Outcomes

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Background: Persistent pain has a high prevalence among adolescents. Pain has been shown to reduce all aspects of the adolescent's health-related quality of life (HRQOL). In adult patients with pain, self-efficacy has been shown to mediate the relationship between pain intensity, disability and depression. However, little is known about whether self-efficacy acts as a mediating variable in the relationship between persistent pain and HRQOL sub-scale scores in a school-based population of adolescents. Objectives: To describe the experience of pain, HRQOL and self-efficacy, and to explore the association between pain intensity, general self-efficacy and HRQOL in adolescents with persistent pain by testing self-efficacy as a possible mediator. Methods: The study participants were 78 adolescents with persistent pain, aged 16-19 years, who were recruited from five high schools in southern Norway. All participants completed an electronic survey consisting of the Lubeck Pain Questionnaire, which included a visual analogue scale (VAS) measuring pain intensity, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and the KIDSCREEN-52 Questionnaire measuring HRQOL. Statistical analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS developed by Andrew Hayes.Results: All participants reported pain in multiple locations, of which the head was most common (88.5%). Mean (SD) pain intensity score of the participants was 5.4 (1.8). The study sample had poor HRQOL, with mean (SD) scores for several sub-scales ranging from 45.2 (21.0) to 91.0 (13.3) on a 0-100 scale. The associations between pain intensity and the HRQOL sub-scales of physical well-being, psychological well-being, mood, self-perception, autonomy and school environment were mediated by self-efficacy. The highest degree of mediation and, thus, the largest indirect effect was estimated for the HRQOL sub-scale physical well-being (67.2%). Conclusions:This school-based sample of adolescents with persistent pain had impaired HRQOL. Up to 67% of the reduction in the HRQOL sub-scale scores for physical well-being, psychological well-being, mood, self-perception, autonomy and school environment could be explained by the mediating variable self-efficacy. Thus, future painmanagement interventions that aim to increase HRQOL in school-based populations of adolescents with persistent pain should consider promoting self-efficacy and providing more targeted interventions.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03551977.

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“…However, most knowledge about occurrence, type and consequences of pain originates from studies on the adult population. Much less is known of the epidemiology of pain in children and young people (King et al, 2011), but existing reviews and surveys specifically focusing on children and young people report a high prevalence of recurrent and persistent self-reported pain (Gobina et al, 2018;King et al, 2011;Swain et al, 2014). Whereas gender differences in pain among adults are well described (Bartley & Fillingim, 2013), less is known about children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consultation prevalence among children, adolescents and young adults with pain conditions: A description of age‐ and gender differences

Bondesson

Olofsson

Caverius

et al. 2019

European Journal of Pain

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Background Pain is a common complaint presented in healthcare, but most epidemiological pain research has focused either on single pain conditions or on the adult population. The aim of this study was to investigate the 2017 consultation prevalence of a wide range of pain conditions in the general population of young people. Methods We used the Skåne Healthcare Register, covering prospectively collected data on all healthcare delivered (primary and secondary care) to the population in the region of Skåne, southern Sweden (population 2017 n = 1,344,689). For individuals aged 1–24 in 2017 (n = 373,178), we calculated the consultation prevalence, stratified by sex and age, and the standardised morbidity ratio (SMR) to assess overall healthcare consultation. Results A total of 58,981 (15.8%) individuals consulted at least once for any of the predefined pain conditions. Of these, 13.5% (n = 7,996) consulted four or more times for pain. Abdominal pain, joint pain/myalgia, headache and back/neck pain were the most common complaints. Overall, females had higher consultation prevalence than males: 17.6% versus 14.1% (p < .0001). SMR was 1.82 (95% CI = 1.74–1.87) for females with pain and 1.51 (95% CI = 1.42–1.56) for males with pain. Consultation prevalence increased with age, but this pattern varied between sex and pain condition. Conclusions Among individuals under the age of 25, a significant proportion consult for pain already in early ages, and they also have high healthcare consultation rates for conditions other than pain. The even higher consultation rates among young females need additional attention, both in the clinic and in research. Significance We present comprehensive 1‐year healthcare consultation prevalence data covering all levels of care. A significant proportion of children, adolescents and young adults consult for different pain conditions at multiple occasions warranting greater clinical awareness.

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Prevalence of self‐reported chronic pain among adolescents: Evidence from 42 countries and regions

Cited by 142 publications

References 34 publications

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

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

Health-related quality of life in adolescents with persistent pain and the mediating role of self-efficacy: a cross-sectional study

Consultation prevalence among children, adolescents and young adults with pain conditions: A description of age‐ and gender differences

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