Trajectories of musculoskeletal pain from adolescence to middle age: the role of early depressive symptoms, a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort

Depression and musculoskeletal pain are associated, but long-term follow-up studies are rare. We aimed to examine the relationship of early depressive symptoms with developmental patterns of musculoskeletal pain from adolescence to middle age. Adolescents ending compulsory school (age 16) in Luleå, Northern Sweden, in 1981 (n = 1083) were studied and followed up in 1986, 1995, and 2008 (age 43) for musculoskeletal pain. Attrition was very low....