O-072 TRAJECTORIES OF MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN FROM MIDLIFE TO OLD AGE: A MULTICOHORT, LONGITUDINAL STUDY Free

This study aimed to study the developmental patterns of musculoskeletal pain from working life to old age. We also studied the associations of lifestyle factors with trajectories of musculoskeletal pain.

Data from four independent cohort studies from Finland (FLAME), the UK (ELSA), Norway (MUST), and the USA (HRS) were used. Analysis was based on the participants who were employed or those looking for jobs at baseline. Musculoskeletal pain was defined as pain in one or more body parts of the musculoskeletal system (yes/no). Latent class growth modeling (LCGM) was applied to identify trajectories of the number of pain sites. The association of the trajectories of musculoskeletal pain with baseline lifestyle factors was studied using multinomial logistic regression models.

Three class trajectories of musculoskeletal were found from midlife to old age in all cohorts. Overall, 12% of people were in the high trajectory group in ELSA, 14% in MUST, 19% in HRS, and 23% in FLAME.

The pooled estimate shows that smoking was associated with a high trajectory of musculoskeletal pain (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.12-1.75), while physical activity and alcohol intake had no significant association with high musculoskeletal pain.

A substantial proportion of people have more than one site of pain consistently from working life to old age. Lifestyle-related factors play an important role in the development of MSP. Lifestyle interventions may reduce the impact of MSP which should be started already at working age when major non-communicable diseases and permanent disability are still very rare.