Socio-cultural associates of pain, disability and health-related quality of life in 1350 primary care physiotherapy patients with non-specific musculoskeletal pain.

OBJECTIVES

To 1) describe the socio-cultural characteristics of people with non-specific musculoskeletal pain (NSMSP) visiting Dutch primary care physiotherapy, and 2) to determine associations between socio-cultural factors and pain intensity, disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with NSMSP visiting Dutch primary care physiotherapy.

DESIGN

Exploratory cross-sectional study.

SETTING

35 Dutch primary care physiotherapy facilities.

PARTICIPANTS

1350 patients with NSMSP.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed self-reported questionnaires on socio-cultural (e.g., migration background, living situation, education level), demographic (e.g., sex, age), health-related (e.g., smoking, Body Mass Index (BMI)), and pain-related (e.g., analgesics) factors, along with standardized measures for outcomes pain intensity, disability, and HRQoL.

RESULTS

After controlling for covariates (sex, age, smoking, BMI, The Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), co-morbidity, analgesics, and chronic widespread pain), socio-cultural variable migration background was associated with on average higher pain intensity (ß = .447, p < .001), higher disability (ß = 3.997, p < .001), and poorer mental HRQoL (ß = -1.475, p < .001). Unemployment was associated with higher pain intensity (ß = .279, p .028) and lower physical HRQoL (ß = -1.709, p .004). Overall, higher education levels were associated with better outcomes, with on average lower pain intensity found for university (ß = -.731, p < .001) and higher professional education levels (ß = -.358, p .003) compared to no education.

CONCLUSIONS

Migration background, unemployment and lower education levels were on average associated with poorer pain intensity, disability and HRQoL in people with NSMSP visiting Dutch primary care physiotherapy. Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, findings should be interpreted with caution. CONTRIBUTION OF THE PAPER.