In sports, musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is often studied from the perspective of sport specific injuries, why little is known about the prevalence of daily or multisite MSP that does not affect participation in sports. It is also unclear if daily or multisite MSP is a risk factor for worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and worse sports performance in youth athletes.

PURPOSE: To study how HRQoL and sports performance is affected by daily MSP in youth athletes that are able to participate in sports.

METHODS: 136 Swedish youth athletes attending a sport school (13 to 14 years, boys n=83, girls n=53) completed the EQ-5D measuring HRQoL (range 0 to 1, worst to best), a pain questionnaire including current pain (yes/no), pain in 18 body regions (never to rarely/monthly to weekly/more than once a week to almost daily), and pain intensity in the last week (0 to 10, best to worst), anthropometric measures to estimate biological age, and sports performance tests (grip strength, 20 meter sprint, and countermovement jump(CMJ)).

RESULTS: 109 to 117 of the 136 students answered the different pain questions. 53 of 113 (47%) reported current MSP, and 28 of 109 (26%) experienced MSP ‘more than once a week to almost daily’ from one or more body regions (frequent MSP group), while 28% (n=30) stated ‘never to rarely’ in MSP (no MSP group). Boys in the frequent MSP group reported worse HRQoL, higher pain intensity, performed worse in all sports performance tests, and had a younger biological age than boys in the no MSP group. Girls in the frequent MSP group reported worse HRQoL and higher pain intensity than the girls in the no MSP group. No other differences were found (table).

CONCLUSIONS: Every other youth athlete attending a sport school reported current MSP and one out of four reported almost daily MSP. MSP affects HRQoL negatively in both boys and girls, and sports performance negatively in boys. The prevalence of MSP in youth athletes is concerning since pain in younger ages may predict pain in adult ages.

© 2017 American College of Sports Medicine