Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 181, February 2017, Pages 213-221.e1
The Journal of Pediatrics

Original Articles
Hypermobility and Musculoskeletal Pain in Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.09.060Get rights and content

Objective

To determine the prevalence of generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) in a large cohort of Australian children and determine the associations between GJH and musculoskeletal pain.

Study design

This is a cross-sectional analysis of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Hypermobility was measured in 1584 participants at 14 years of age using the Beighton scoring system, along with a range of other factors including musculoskeletal pain status. Logistic regression models were used to assess independent associations of GJH with factors of interest.

Results

The prevalence of GJH was 60.6% and 36.7% in girls and boys, respectively, when defined as a Beighton score of ≥4; when defined as ≥6, it was 26.1% and 11.5%. In girls, positive associations between GJH and higher socioeconomic status and better motor competence were observed. In boys, positive associations between GJH and lower body mass index were observed. After adjusting for potential confounders, an association between number of pain areas in the last month and made worse with sport were identified in boys but not girls.

Conclusion

The high prevalence rates of GJH as defined by commonly used Beighton cutoff values in this cohort highlight the need to question the appropriateness of these cutoffs in future studies. Future prospective studies of the association between GJH and musculoskeletal pain should be adjusted for confounding variables identified in this study, and be powered for sex-specific analyses owing to the differing prevalence rates and hypermobility correlates in male and female samples.

Keywords

epidemiology
motor competence
Beighton score
hypermobility
musculoskeletal pain

Abbreviations

BMI
Body mass index
GJH
Generalized joint hypermobility
JHS
Joint hypermobility syndrome
MAND
McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development
MSP
Musculoskeletal pain

Cited by (0)

The Raine Study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, University of Western Australia, Raine Medical Research Foundation, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Women and Infants Research Foundation, Curtin University, and Edith Cowan University. The year 14 follow-up was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Project 323200, Fellowship 373638, Program 003209), Healthway, the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia, and the Arthritis Foundation of Australia. A.S. was supported by a research fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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