Abstract
Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is a common and potentially debilitating disorder. Patterns
of physical activity (PA) in adults with CWP have primarily been investigated using
subjective, self-report measures. The current study sought to characterize PA among
community-dwelling individuals with CWP, chronic regional pain, or no chronic pain
using objective measurements obtained via accelerometry in the 2003 to 2004 National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data from 3,952 participants ages 20 and
older were analyzed to assess relationships between pain status and objective measurements
of PA. Prevalence of CWP was 3.3% and 5.4% in men and women, respectively. In men
and women, the average activity counts per minute and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous
PA were significantly lower for the CWP group than for the no chronic pain group.
Interestingly, time spent in sedentary, light, and lifestyle activities was not associated
with pain status. Statistical interaction tests indicated that the effects of chronic
pain on counts per minute were stronger in men than in women. Despite recommendations
for increased moderate-to-vigorous PA as a pain management strategy for CWP, results
from this nationally representative study indicate that adults with CWP participate
in less moderate-to-vigorous PA than individuals without chronic pain.
Perspective
Using objective measurement of PA in a nationally representative sample, this study
demonstrates that adults with CWP participate in reduced daily and moderate-to-vigorous
PA in comparison to people with no chronic pain. Findings indicate that clinicians
should emphasize the importance of increasing PA in patients with CWP.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 24, 2014
Accepted:
January 16,
2014
Received in revised form:
December 27,
2013
Received:
July 27,
2013
Footnotes
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant DGE-0940903.
D.C.T. is the Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Journal of Pain and has received research support from Johnson & Johnson, Philips Respironics, the U.S. National Institutes of Health ( NIAMS R01AR059102; NIDA 1R01DA032776, 1R01DA026887), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (HHSF223201000078C; U01 FD004187), and consulting fees from Eli Lilly, Mallincrodt, Ortho-McNeill Janssen, Orexo, Pfizer, and Philips Respironics in the past 2 years.
None of the remaining authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
