Socioeconomic conditions and number of pain sites in women

The study population comprised 653 women; 160 recurrence-free long-term gynecological cancer survivors, and 493 women selected at random from the general population. Demographic characteristics and co-morbidity over the past 12 months were assessed. Socioeconomic conditions were measured by Socioeconomic Condition Index (SCI), comprising education, employment status, income, ability to pay bills, self-perceived health, and satisfaction with number of close friends. Main outcome measure NPS was recorded using a body outline diagram indicating where the respondents had experienced pain during the past week. Chi-square test and forward stepwise logistic regression were applied.There were only minor differences in SCI scores between women with 0, 1-2 or 3 NPS. Four or more NPS was associated with younger age, higher BMI and low SCI. After adjustment for age, BMI and co-morbidity, we found a strong association between low SCI scores and four or more NPS, indicating that there is a threshold in the NPS count for when socioeconomic determinants are associated to NPS in women.Living in deprived socioeconomic conditions is associated with higher prevalence of health complaints [1,2], like generalized [3], musculoskeletal [4], chronic non-malignant [5] and complex/frequent/intensive pain [6]. The most frequent measures of self-reported pain are frequency, severity, and specific pain locations. During the recent years number of pain sites (NPS) is regarded as a better parameter in pain assessment [7] and may be more important than actual sites in determining the impact on health [8] and functioning [9]. Females endorse a larger NPS than males [7,10-12], and high NPS is frequently reported around middle age [7,12,13]. Increasing NPS is related to impaired health status [10,12], and poorer general [9,14], as well as physical, psychological and social functioning outcomes [15]. However, little is known regarding the association between socioeconomic conditions and NPS. The aim of