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. 2021 May 17;21(1):937.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10953-z.

Prevalence, burden of disease, and lost in health state utilities attributable to chronic musculoskeletal disorders and pain in Chile

Pedro Zitko  1   2 , Norberto Bilbeny  3 , Carlos Balmaceda  4 , Tomas Abbott  4 , Cesar Carcamo  3 , Manuel Espinoza  5   6
Affiliations

Prevalence, burden of disease, and lost in health state utilities attributable to chronic musculoskeletal disorders and pain in Chile

Pedro Zitko et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of disability adjusted life years (DALY) in the world. We aim to describe the prevalence and to compare the DALYs and loss of health state utilities (LHSU) attributable to common musculoskeletal disorders in Chile.

Methods: We used data from the Chilean National Health Survey carried out in 2016-2017. Six musculoskeletal disorders were detected through the COPCOPRD questionnaire: chronic musculoskeletal pain, chronic low back pain, chronic shoulder pain, osteoarthritis of hip and knee, and fibromyalgia. We calculated the DALY for each disorder for 18 sex and age strata, and LHSU following an individual and population level approaches. We also calculated the fraction of LHSU attributable to pain.

Results: Chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder affects a fifth of the adult population, with a significant difference between sexes. Among specific musculoskeletal disorders highlights chronic low back pain with the highest prevalence. Musculoskeletal disorders are a significant cause of LHSU at the individual level, especially in the case of fibromyalgia. Chronic musculoskeletal pain caused 503,919 [283,940 - 815,132] DALYs in 2017, and roughly two hundred thousand LSHU at population level, which represents 9.7% [8.8-10.6] of the total LSHU occurred in that year. Discrepancy in the burden of musculoskeletal disorders was observed according to DALY or LSHU estimation. The pain and discomfort domain of LHSU accounted for around half of total LHSU in people with musculoskeletal disorders.

Conclusion: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a major source of burden and LHSU. Fibromyalgia should deserve more attention in future studies. Using the attributable fraction offers a straightforward and flexible way to explore the burden of musculoskeletal disorders.

Keywords: Burden of disease; Musculoskeletal diseases; Outcome measures; Pain; Prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

We are aware that ACHED received an unrestricted research grant from Grunenthal Pharmaceuticals, though none of the authors received direct payments from Grunenthal for this study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fraction of loss of health state utilities† for musculoskeletal disorders attributable to different domains of the EQ-5D, using data from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017 (n = 5077). Note: HSU: Health State Utilities. † Loss of HSU (LHSU) are anchored in values 0 and 1, equivalent to perfect health and death, respectively. Percentages correspond to pain & discomfort domain of EQ-5D
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