Neck and shoulder symptoms of high school students and associated psychosocial factors.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of neck and shoulder symptoms among high school students and associated psychosocial factors. METHODS: High school students (718) completed a questionnaire concerning neck and shoulder pain and psychosocial factors such as stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy. A participant was classified into the "no disturbing symptoms" group or into the "disturbing symptoms" group according to the frequency of the neck and shoulder symptoms. The sum of mean scores of stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy were compared between these groups. RESULTS: Twenty-one percent of the girls and 10% of the boys suffered from disturbing neck and shoulder symptoms. Stress symptoms and depressive symptoms were more common among the girls than the boys. For both sexes, the sum of stress scores and those of depressive symptom scores were significantly higher in the "disturbing symptoms" group than the "no disturbing symptoms" group. Among the girls, the sum of the self-efficacy scores was lower in the "disturbing symptoms" group than in the "no disturbing symptoms" group. CONCLUSIONS: Neck and shoulder symptoms are common among adolescents and psychosocial factors such as stress and depressive symptoms seem to be associated with these symptoms, especially among girls. More knowledge about the etiologic factors associated with neck and shoulder symptoms in adolescents may result in preventive programs with the potential for reducing morbidity of neck and shoulder symptoms in adulthood.

Patients with neck and shoulder complaints and multisite musculoskeletal symptoms--a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine reasons for and extent of health services utilization in patients seeking care for neck and shoulder pain in a population based primary care setting. METHODS: Patients seeking care for neck and shoulder pain were identified from medical records of 6526 patients visiting 6 primary care centers during a 2 week period. The extent of and reasons for health care utilization over the subsequent 12 month period were examined. RESULTS: Of 440 patients who consulted primary health care physicians for neck and shoulder pain, one-half had one or more additional episodes of care due to musculoskeletal (MSK) pain over the subsequent 12 months. One-quarter had additional episodes of care for pain in other sites than in the neck and shoulder. The total number of visits was twice the annual average for patients visiting the health centers, MSK symptoms accounting for half the visits. Twenty percent of the women and 7% of the men visited primary care physicians 10 times or more per year. CONCLUSION: The pattern of reasons for visits for MSK pain suggests that in about one-quarter of patients visiting primary care physicians for neck and shoulder pain, the local symptomatology is part of multisite MSK symptoms, resulting in frequent utilization of health services.

Use of primary health services in sparsely populated country districts by patients with musculoskeletal symptoms: consultations with a physician.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which people consult health centre doctors about various musculoskeletal symptoms and to identify those groups of patients who are responsible for the main workload in primary health care caused by musculoskeletal complaints. DESIGN: A cross sectional investigation based on case records of people who visited health centre physicians. SETTING: The population of six Finnish health centre districts (93,000 inhabitants, 64 physicians' posts in primary care centres). SUBJECTS: 6526 patients (7634 visits) who consulted a physician at any of six health centres during a two week period, of which 1380 consulted for musculoskeletal symptoms. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The reasons for the visits were abstracted from the case records and were analysed by cross tabulation. The rate of people visiting for musculoskeletal symptoms during a two week period was on average 15 per 1000 inhabitants. It was highest in men aged 45-54 years (25/1000) and in women aged 55-64 years (26/1000); the rate fell to the average in men over 54 and women over 64 years. Patients with musculoskeletal symptoms accounted for 21% of all patients and 27% of those over 15 years of age. Low back pain was the most common reason for consultation in men aged 25-54 years, while for women aged 35-74 years, the most common reason was neck and shoulder pain. CONCLUSIONS: Over one quarter of adults visiting a health centre doctor do so because of musculoskeletal disorders. This fact must be considered when developing health care services and organising basic education and further in-service training for doctors.