Healthcare service use in adolescents with non-specific musculoskeletal pain

To estimate occurrence of non-specific musculoskeletal pain in a wide population sample of Italian adolescents, and to investigate their use of healthcare services (seeking of medical attention, referral for diagnostic tests and treatment use).

We investigated 7542 high-school adolescents (aged between 12 and 16 years) by a structured questionnaire and consisting of personal data, presence of pain, health provider consulted, referral for diagnostic tests and compliance with the prescribed treatments.

In 3399 (45.1%) reported musculoskeletal pain (the most affected sites being the spine and knees), 2525 (74.2%) of whom had sought medical attention. Of the 2525 subjects who had sought healthcare, 1061 (42.0%) had consulted more than one health provider, 2410 (95.4%) had been referred for diagnostic tests, and some form of treatment had been recommended for 2445 (96.8%), but only 1694 (69.2%) had complied with prescribed therapies. The most important factors linked to health seeking behaviour were pain intensity, pain lasting longer than 3 months, injury, interruption to or absence of physical activity and localization in the spine and knee.

Non-specific musculoskeletal pain is a frequent event in Italian adolescents and that a large number of these subjects consult a healthcare service.