An unrecognizable epidemic: Chronic musculoskeletal pain in Sweden - What is it telling us, general practitioners?

Mental co-morbidity is strikingly frequent untreated and causes indirect disability among patients with (CMP). The majority of the people with CMP have pain from more than just a single pain site. An association between multisite pain and poor prognosis has been demonstrated (1)

In, as well as in many other countries around the world, back problems and health subjective complaints are the most frequent somatic diagnoses for long-term incapacity and disability (2-3).

On the other hand, it is well known the high prevalence of mood disorders and psychosis in. In, the psychiatric illness takes around 60 billions kronor per year. Particularly, depression is the most common mental disease being most incident in the youngest groups (4). Research has shown that people who have long spells of sick leave for psychiatric illness are twice as likely to die early.

The association between mental disorders and CMP is in extend documented nowadays.

The stress process model attempts to explain how individuals react to live events and adaptation processes (e.g. immigrants in a new country) (5). Anxiety disorders and musculoskeletal pain among occupational cohorts has also been linked (6). Almost 40% of the sickness absence in is caused by mood disorders, psychosis and neck-back pain (7).

Awareness of the multifaceted character of the problem, there is not enough resources at the community health settings to detect treat or rehabilitate successfully persons with CMP in. In spite of several efforts in order to minimize this worldwide health problem, many questions are not discussed or resolved today. For instance, are the GPs and health care systems prepared or ready to act according to the magnitude of the problem?

Could it be a reflex of extended subjective health complaints, maybe originated from a more demanding society with new unhealthy life stiles?