Takeaway
- Type 2 diabetes (T2D) was associated with knee, hip and neck/shoulder pain, with stronger associations among people suffering from chronic pain.
- In addition, T2D increased the risk of future reporting of neck/shoulder pain, particularly among women.
- Findings highlight the need to consider musculoskeletal screening in patients with diabetes and warrant future studies to investigate the mechanisms explaining why T2D appears to be a risk factor for neck/shoulder pain and why gender differences exist.
Study design
- This UK Biobank study included 495,327 participants in the cross-sectional (2006-2010) and 16,875 in the longitudinal (2014-2016) analyses.
- Self-reported T2D and musculoskeletal pain (back, knee, hip, or neck/shoulder pain) were assessed using a touchscreen questionnaire.
- Funding: None disclosed.
- In cross-sectional analyses, T2D was associated with an increased risk of:
- recent and chronic neck/shoulder pain (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.14 [95% CI, 1.10-1.18] and 1.15 [95% CI, 1.10-1.19], respectively); and
- recent and chronic hip pain (aOR, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.08-1.17] and 1.14 [95% CI, 1.10-1.19], respectively).
- chronic knee pain (OR 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.01).
- Analyses stratified by gender revealed that T2D increased the risk of recent (aOR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.12) and chronic (aOR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.13) back pain for women only [aOR, 1.06; 95%CI 1.01-1.12].
- In longitudinal adjusted analyses:
- T2D was associated with an increased risk of recent (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.01-1.91) and chronic (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.14-2.19) neck/shoulder pain.
- Analyses stratified by gender revealed that women with T2D were at an increased risk of recent (aOR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.10-3.25); and chronic (aOR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.11-3.31) neck/shoulder pain.
- The questions regarding musculoskeletal pain did not identify any specific cause of pain.
- Diabetes was self-reported and not based on biological criteria.
References
References
