Musculoskeletal pain in the Netherlands: prevalences, consequences and risk groups, the DMC3-study

The objective of this paper was to present estimates on the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain of five different anatomical areas and ten anatomical sites, and their consequences and risk groups in the general Dutch population. Cross-sectional data from a population-based study of a sex-age stratified sample of Dutch inhabitants of 25 years and older were used. With a postal questionnaire data was assessed on musculoskeletal pain, additional pain characteristics (location, duration, course), its consequences (utilization of health care, sick leave and limitation in daily life) and general socio-demographic characteristics. The top three of self-reported musculoskeletal pain (point prevalence (P(p)) with 95%…