Differences in chronic musculoskeletal pain among male and female Brazilian university professors.
Mônica Jordão de Souza Pinto, Inmaculada Failde, Priscilla Hortense
PMID 41587092WHAT IT FOUND
Women Brazilian university professors reported more widespread and intense chronic musculoskeletal pain than men, used more medication and rehabilitation, had lower self-efficacy, and lost more productivity.
The study did not show what caused these differences.
Key findings
01Women professors reported 27% more body regions with pain and 10% more intense pain than men.
02Women professors used continuous pain medication 53% more often and rehabilitation 49% more often than men.
03Women professors scored 13.59 points lower than men on the total chronic pain self-efficacy scale, which ranges from 30 to 300.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it cannot show that sex, medication, breaks, self-efficacy, or productivity loss caused the pain differences. Participants were recruited by convenience e-survey invitations to approximately 9,000 randomly selected emails; 1436 responded and 462 were excluded, so it may not represent all professors. It included only statutory civil servant professors from Brazilian federal public universities with chronic musculoskeletal pain, excluding recent appointees, those away from work, retirees, and people with chronic oncological pain. The study examined sex as a biological variable and did not investigate gender roles or social identity. Adjusted analyses found no significant associations, so the unadjusted associations with moderate or severe pain should not be treated as independent predictors.
Declared interests
The supplied text reports financial support from FAPESP and CAPES. It does not state any commercial sponsor, author conflict of interest, or involvement of a treatment manufacturer in design, analysis, or writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that fewer breaks, more medication use, lower self-efficacy, or productivity loss caused women's greater pain. This was a cross-sectional self-report survey, and adjusted analyses found no significant associations.