Pain and its association with health-related quality of life, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in 10-year-old children from a Swedish birth cohort

• Pain in children may be underreported and undertreated today, but due to methodological variations, pain prevalence is difficult to determine. Moreover, it is unclear to what extent pediatric pain is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other lifestyle habits. There is a need for an increased understanding of pain in children.ObjectivesTo study pain prevalence and cross-sectional associations between pain, HRQoL, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in 10-year-old children from a Swedish birth cohort.MethodsThe Swedish birth cohort the “Halland Health and Growth Study” (H2GS) recruited 2860 children at birth (2007–2009). At 10 years of age the children answered questionnaires regarding pain (mannequin with 20 regions, frequency never–daily for each region) and HRQoL (Kidscreen-27, 27 questions, 5 domains scored worst–best). Parents estimated their child’s sleep (6–8, 9, or 10–12 hours/night), physical activity time, and sedentary time (hours/weekdays and hours/weekends respectively). Children were categorized into the groups of “infrequent pain” (never–monthly pain) or “frequent pain” (weekly–almost daily pain) from the highest reported pain frequency from at least one body region. Differences in pain prevalence between boys and girls were analyzed with chi2-test. Logistic regression analyses were performed to study associations between frequent pain (dependent variable) and HRQoL, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior (independent variables). Each variable was adjusted for sex.Results733 children (351 boys and 382 girls) answered pain and HRQoL questions at 10 years of age. Frequent pain was reported by 37% (boys 35% vs. girls 39%, p=0.267). The number of frequent pain regions ranged from 1–13 in boys and 1–20 in girls. Higher HRQoL in the domains physical wellbeing (OR 0.965; 95%CI 0.948–0.983; p<0.001), psychological wellbeing (OR 0.971; 95%CI 0.955–0.987; p<0.001), autonomy and parents (OR 0.971; 95%CI 0.954–0.988; p=0.001), peers and social support (OR 0.977; 95%CI 0.961–0.994; p=0.007), and school environment (OR 0.972; 95%CI 0.956–0.989; p=0.002) was associated with less risk of belonging to the frequent pain group. More sedentary time in weekdays (OR 1.107; 95%CI 1.028–1.192; p=0.007) and weekends (OR 1.122; 95%CI 1.037–1.215; p=0.004) was associated with having frequent pain, but no associations were found between frequent pain and the amount of physical activity or sleep.ConclusionThe high prevalence of frequent pain in 10-year-old children must receive attention by the school and health-care services. The association between frequent pain and low HRQoL is troublesome. Improving HRQoL and reducing sedentary time is beneficial for children’s health, but further studies are needed to follow associations over time.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

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art (subject category)