Chronic upper extremity pain and co-occurring symptoms in a general population.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of self reported chronic upper extremity pain associated with physical impairment in a general population, and its co-occurrence with chronic upper extremity numbness or tingling and chronic pain at other locations.

Methods: A general health questionnaire was mailed to 3,000 persons (age 25-74 years) who were randomly selected from a general population register.

Results: The response rate was 83%. The prevalence of chronic upper extremity pain associated with physical impairment was 20.8% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 19.2-22.5), and that of co-occurring numbness or tingling was 6.7% (95% CI 5.7-7.7). Among the responders with chronic upper extremity pain associated with physical impairment, 84% reported more than 1 painful area.

Conclusion: Chronic upper extremity pain associated with physical impairment and co-occurring chronic upper extremity numbness or tingling were common in the general population. The presence of more than 1 location for pain in the upper extremity as well as in other parts of the body was frequent.