ArticleBMC health services research2021
Number of musculoskeletal pain sites leads to increased long-term healthcare contacts and healthcare related costs - a Danish population-based cohort study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Clinical care pathways for individuals with comorbid mental health disorders presenting to emergency with acute musculoskeletal pain: a narrative review.Pain management · 2026Review
- Economic burden of musculoskeletal pain in Danish senior workers: a working-life expectancy approach.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Economic evaluation of advanced practice physiotherapy models of care for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders In Denmark: a registry-based cohort study.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Musculoskeletal Pain Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Telesurvey.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2026Article
- Joint influence of lifestyle and chronic musculoskeletal pain on all-cause mortality: the HUNT Study.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- Post-discharge healthcare utilization and costs in musculoskeletal surgery patients: A cohort study in Korea.PloS one · 2026Article
- Comparisons and associations of psychological factors and the number of painful sites in wheelchair basketball athletes with and without shoulder pain: A cross-sectional case-control study.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2025Article
- Prospective associations between 24-h device-measured occupational and leisure-time physical activity and register-based musculoskeletal-related primary healthcare utilization among Danish workers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Musculoskeletal Pain as a Risk Factor for Poor Dizziness Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study Among Patients With Persistent Vestibular Dizziness.Physical therapy · 2025Article
- Bio-sociological and clinical factors of chronic pain and pain interference in patients undergoing hemodialysis: a cross-sectional study.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- How Does Physical Activity During Youth Affect the Development of Multisite Musculoskeletal Pain or Discomfort in Young Adults?Pain research & management · 2025Article
- Patient characteristics and healthcare use for high-cost patients with musculoskeletal disorders in Norway: a cohort study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Environmental and sociocultural factors are associated with pain-related brain structure among diverse individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: intersectional considerations.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Change in number of pain sites - which factors are important? A 12-year prospective cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Musculoskeletal and Neuropathic Pain in COVID-19.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Dispositional traits help explain individual differences in relationships between a radiographic knee osteoarthritis measure, pain, and physical function.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2024Article
- Musculoskeletal pain patterns and association between dizziness symptoms and pain in patients with long term dizziness - a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Elucidating factors contributing to disparities in pain-related experiences among adults with or at risk for knee osteoarthritis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Investigating associated factors of primary and specialist health care utilization among people with selected nationalities: results of a multilingual survey in two German federal states.BMC health services research · 2022Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundPeople with musculoskeletal pain seek more healthcare than the general population, however little is known about the long-term effect on healthcare use. The aim of this study was to examine the consequences of number of musculoskeletal pain sites on long-term care-seeking and healthcare-related costs and explore how health anxiety influences this relationship.
methodsWe conducted a Danish population-based longitudinal cohort study of 4883 participants combining self-reported survey data from 2008 with ten-year follow-up data from national health registers. Using a causal inference framework, we examined associations between number of pain sites (range 0-7)/level of health anxiety (high/low level) and face-to-face healthcare contacts/healthcare-related costs. Data were analyzed using negative binomial regression with generalized estimating equations. Regression models were adjusted for sex, age, duration of pain, level of education, comorbidity, personality traits, risk of depression, marital status, physical job exposure, and previous healthcare utilization.
resultsFor each additional pain site general healthcare contacts (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR): 1.04 (95% CI: 1.03-1.05)), healthcare-related costs (IRR: 1.06 (95% CI: 1.03-1.08) and musculoskeletal healthcare contacts (IRR: 1.11 (95% CI:1.09-1.14) increased. Those with high levels of health anxiety at baseline had a slightly higher number of general healthcare contacts (IRR 1.06 (1.01-1.11), independent of number of pain sites. However, level of anxiety did not influence the effect of number of pain sites on any healthcare use or cost outcomes.
conclusionsWe found evidence for a causal association between increasing number of pain sites and greater healthcare use and cost, and high levels of health anxiety did not increase the strength of this association. This suggests that number of pain sites could be a potential target for biopsychosocial interventions in order to reduce the need for future care-seeking.
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