Prevalence and Risk Factors of de Novo Widespread Post-COVID Pain in Non-Hospitalized COVID-19 Survivors: A Nation-Wide Exploratory Population-Based Survey
PainSci notes on Ebbesen 2023:
Ebbesen et al. report some depressing news in this paper: at least 5% of 130,000 people who had mild Covid (not hospitalized) developed new widespread musculoskeletal pain after the … and still had it more than a year later.
That is a lot of hurting: at least 6500 people in that study group all had an ugly, long-term legacy from Covid infections … without even going through the deadly wringer of hospitalization. If that’s what mild Covid can do, I shudder to think what severe Covid can do. (Unfortunately, we know exactly what it can do: see Davis.)
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
This survey investigated the prevalence of de novo widespread musculoskeletal post-COVID pain and risk factors for its development in non-hospitalized COVID-19 survivors. A nationwide exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted including a cohort of 593,741 Danish residents that had suffered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection from March 2020 to December 2021. A questionnaire was distributed to the Danish population via digital mail system (e-Boks). Self-reported demographic data, previous medical comorbidities (diagnosed), socioeconomic data, time of infection, prior chronic pain conditions (diagnosed), development of de novo widespread pain after infection, pain medication, and pain intensity information were collected. Responders consisted of 130,443 non-hospitalized participants (58.2% women; mean age: 50.2 years). At a mean of 14.4 (SD 6.0) months after infection, 6,875 (5.3%) patients reported the presence of de novo widespread musculoskeletal post-COVID pain. Almost 75% of the patients reported a moderate to severe intensity of the pain. In conclusion, de novo widespread post-COVID pain was present in 5.3% of non-hospitalized COVID-19 survivors one year after infection (14.4±6.0 months). Older age, female sex, higher body mass index, and history of migraine, whiplash, stress, type-2 diabetes, neurological disorders, and lower socioeconomic status, were risk factors associated with the development of de novo widespread post-COVID pain in non-hospitalized patients. As de novo widespread pain is considered a sign of sensitization, this group will require specialized pain management attention.
PERSPECTIVE: This article presents de novo widespread post-COVID pain prevalence in a cohort of 130,443 citizens infected with COVID-19. The study identifies potential risk factors associated with development of these new pain symptoms. The results may increase focus on this patient group and potentially help identifying predictors for post-infection pain development.
related content
- “Skeletal Muscle and Peripheral Nerve Histopathology in COVID-19,” Suh et al, Neurology, 2021.
- “Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Immune-Mediated Myopathy in Patients Who Have Died,” Aschman et al, JAMA Neurol, 2021.
- “Rheumatic Symptoms Following Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Chronic Post-COVID-19 Condition,” Cui et al, Open Forum Infect Dis, 2022.
- “Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations,” Davis et al, Nat Rev Microbiol, 2023.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.
- Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations. Pople 1994 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- Characteristics of patients with low back and leg pain seeking treatment in primary care: baseline results from the ATLAS cohort study. Konstantinou 2015 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken 2022 Evid Based Ment Health.