Highlights
- •A 15-year follow-up study on 3,294 participants between ages 31 and 46 years.
- •Evening types, compared to morning types, were more likely to have persistent multisite MSK pain.
- •Sex, mental distress, or poor sleep did not change the strength of this association.
- •Chronotype should be recognized as a predictor of multisite MSK pain.
Abstract
Chronotype, a phenotype representing a person's 24-hour circadian rhythm, has been
increasingly acknowledged as playing a role in musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. Most prior
research on chronotype and MSK pain have been based on cross-sectional data, and no
study has explored multisite MSK pain (2 or more pain locations) as the outcome. We
drew the study sample from the 31- and 46-year data collections (baseline and follow-up,
respectively) of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 and collected self-reported
data on chronotype at follow-up (morning [M]-type, intermediate [I]-type, and evening
[E]-type) and longitudinal multisite MSK pain trajectories (n = 3,294). Multinomial
logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals
(CIs) in multisite MSK pain trajectories between the chronotypes. We conducted additional
sensitivity analyses that 1) accounted for several confounders, and 2) examined the
potential moderating role of sex, mental distress, and sleep disturbance status in
the chronotype–multisite MSK pain associations. The E-types had two-and-a-half-times
higher odds of multisite MSK pain at baseline and follow-up (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.84–3.32)
than the M-types. Having severe mental distress or poor sleep at baseline and follow-up,
or sex did not change the strength of this association. Our examination of this longitudinal
birth cohort study suggested that evening types, in comparison to morning types, are
more likely to experience multisite MSK pain between ages 31 and 46 years. Chronotype
should be recognized as a predictor of multisite pain and thus taken into account
in the evaluation of a patient's risk for multisite pain.
Perspective
This longitudinal study shows that evening types, compared to morning types, have
higher odds of experiencing multisite MSK pain between ages 31 and 46 years. Chronotype
should be considered while evaluating MSK patient's risk for persistent multisite
pain symptoms.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 10, 2022
Accepted:
December 2,
2022
Received in revised form:
November 30,
2022
Received:
October 11,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
The NFBC1966 received financial support from the University of Oulu Grant no. 65354 and 24000692; Oulu University Hospital Grant no. 2/97, 8/97, and 24301140; Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Grant no. 23/251/97, 160/97, 190/97; Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki Grant no. 54121; Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Oulu, Finland Grant no. 50621, 54231; ERDF European Regional Development Fund Grant no. 539/2010 A31592. I. Merikanto received financial support from the Gyllenberg Foundation and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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© 2022 by United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.
