ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2024
Change in number of pain sites - which factors are important? A 12-year prospective cohort study.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Screen Time, Sitting Time, Physical Activity, and Multisite Musculoskeletal Pain in University Students: Implications for Preventive Healthcare.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Potential therapeutic targets for multisite chronic pain: A proteome-wide Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2026Article
- The pain-comorbidity links: a cross-sectional analysis of musculoskeletal burden in Saudi older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Correction: Change in number of pain sites - which factors are important? A 12-year prospective cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPain in multiple body sites is common and often persistent. The purpose of this prospective study was to examine the change in the number of pain sites (NPS) over time and to evaluate to which extent clinical, demographic, lifestyle and health-related factors predict a change in NPS.
methodsThis was a population-based longitudinal cohort study of adults (n = 2,357). Data on pain, demographic, lifestyle, and health-related variables were collected by questionnaires in 2008 and 2020 and register data from 2006 to 2017. Data was analysed with linear regression.
resultsWe found a mean decrease in NPS over the 12-year follow-up period (-0.36 (95% CI; -0.44; -0.27) and 56% of this sample reported no change or only one pain site increase/decrease over 12 years. While participants reporting pain for less than 3 months at baseline had almost no change in NPS (-0.04 (95% CI; -0.18; 0.10)), participants with pain for longer than 3 months decreased by -0.51 (95% CI; -0.62; -0.41). Age at baseline (20-49 years), pain intensity, and obesity (BMI ≥ 30) were associated with an increase in NPS over the follow-up period.
conclusionsNPS is relatively stable over time. We found a small mean decrease in NPS over 12 years varying between participants with pain for longer than 3 months and pain for less than 3 months respectively. The results also indicate that pain intensity, age, and obesity could be relevant factors to consider when predicting change in NPS.
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