LOW PREVALENCES OF CHRONIC WIDESPREAD PAIN AND SHOULDER DISORDERS AMONG THE PIMA-INDIANS

Objective. To establish the prevalence of shoulder disease and chronic widespread pain in Pima Indians. Methods. Cross sectional analyses of data from 4230 subjects for shoulder disease and 105 subjects for chr onic widespread pain participating in population surveys. Results. The prevalence of shoulder disease was 4.4% (95% CI, 3.8-5.1), age-sex ad justed to the 1980 US census population. This is lower than in a study of Caucasians [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.29, 95% CI, 0.20-0.42 for me n and PR = 0.55, 95% CI, 0.41-0.73 for women]. Shoulder disease was as sociated with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (PR = 1.67, 95% CI, 1.19-2.36). No chronic widespread pain was identified (95% CI, 0-3 .5%). Conclusion. Prevalence of these pain syndromes in Pima Indians i s lower than in predominantly Caucasian populations. These findings su ggest that these populations have different pain perception or differe nt patterns of risk factors for these disorders.