MUSCULOSKELETAL PAINS AND DEPRESSION IN A MIDDLE-AGED FINNISH POPULATION

The relationships between depression, measured as high rates of depres sive symptoms (Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, ZSDS), and musculosk eletal pains (Kuorinka et al. 1987) were described in a 55-year-old Fi nnish population consisting of all the 1008 persons born in 1935 and l iving in the city of Oulu on 1 October 1990. Three hundred forty-five men (76%) and 435 women (79%) participated in the examinations. Of the men 6.8% and of the women 12.1% scored 45 raw sum points or more on t he ZSDS. In several anatomical regions, pains were more common among t he depressed than the non-depressed population, and many of the depres sed persons suffered from multiple pains. One of the most common regio ns of pain was the neck; during the past 12 months, 56.5% of the depre ssed men and 65.4% of the depressed women had suffered from frequent p ains in the neck. The corresponding prevalences among the non-depresse d men and women were 35.2% and 45.5%, respectively. In the non-depress ed population, musculoskeletal pains were more common among women than men, whereas no great gender differences existed in the depressed pop ulation. The possible confounding variables were standardized in the l ogistic regression analysis, and the results showed an independent ass ociation between pains in the small joints and depression among men, o n one hand, and pains in the neck and shoulder and depression among wo men, on the other hand.