Article,
Profiling schoolchildren in pain and associated demographic and behavioural factors: A latent class approach
Pain, In Press, Corrected Proof, (6 December 2006)urlhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T0K-4MH8BNM-5/2/bbbc596802f8c78b41587cf139389c23.
Abstract
Musculoskeletal pain in adolescence is common and
individuals frequently report pain in different sites.
However, statistical analysis is often limited to
considering one or a few pain sites. In this study
latent class analysis was used to classify individuals
into latent classes in terms of their patterns of
endorsing ten musculoskeletal sites. Previously
established covariates of musculoskeletal pain in
adolescents were then assessed across emergent latent
classes. The study was a cross sectional survey of
adolescents attending post-primary schools in England.
A total of 679 took part in the study with an age range
from 11 to 14 years. Pain was operationalised as the
occurrence of pain for one day or more in the past
month. Schoolchildren self-reported on the incidence of
pain aided by a nordic manikin. A three-class model
emerged as the best fit. Classes were labelled `Pain
free' (63.4%), `Neck and back' pain (28.2%) and
`Widespread' pain (8.4%). The `Widespread' pain class
was significantly related with Age (OR = 1.79; 95%CI
1.24-2.57), Sex (OR = 0.35, 95%CI 0.16-0.79), bag
weight to body weight (OR = 1.12, 95%CI 1.03-1.22), bag
carrying method (OR = 2.08, 95%CI 1.08-3.97),
Schoolwork difficult (OR = 2.78, 95%CI 1.27-6.07), and
headaches (OR = 2.13, 95%CI 1.65-2.76). While Strengths
and Difficulties Questionnaire scores (OR = 1.05, 95%CI
1.01-1.11), and Headaches (OR = 1.78, 95%CI 1.39-2.26)
were significant for the `Back and neck' class. It is
suggested that research should seek to identify typical
pain profiles for adolescents, rather than
concentrating on specific pain sites since some risk
factors may be obscured or inflated by inappropriately
amalgamating or segregating pain sites.
