Background: Multisite pain and obesity are cross-sectionally related and are common conditions that may influence each other through socio-demographic, lifestyle and/or health-related factors. The aim of the present study was to examine the cross-sectional and prospective associations between overweight/obesity and multisite pain in a general population.
Methods: In a 20-year population-based prospective cohort study, persons aged 20-62 years in 1990 participated in postal surveys in 1990, 1994, 2004 and 2010 (n = 855). Multisite pain was defined as reporting ≥ 2 number of pain sites (NPS) on the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire. Overweight was defined as body mass index (BMI) 25-30 kg/m(2) and obesity as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2). To exploit all measurement times, generalized estimating equation analyses adjusting for age, sex, educational and occupational status, smoking, sleep quality, mental distress and physical activity were employed.
Results: The mean age was 41 years at baseline and 57% were women. Overweight/obesity and NPS were significantly associated cross-sectionally. Being overweight/obese was associated with reporting future NPS ≥ 2 [overweight: odds ratio (OR), 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12-1.75, obese: OR, 1.54, 95% CI, 1.04-2.28]. Having NPS ≥ 2 was not associated with becoming overweight, but increased the OR for future obesity (OR 1.27, 95% CI, 1.02, 1.59). Smoking was a confounder in this relationship.
Conclusions: Being overweight or obese was associated with future multisite pain, although the magnitude of the association was small and the dose-response relationship observed in cross-sectional analyses disappeared in prospective analyses. There was less evidence that having multisite pain was a predictor of future overweight/obesity.
© 2013 European Pain Federation - EFIC®