title: A Survey of Severity and Distribution of Musculoskeletal Pain in Multiple Sclerosis Patients; a Cross-Sectional Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pain, a common phenomenon in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, is associated with many symptoms and problems.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigation severity and distribution of musculoskeletal pain in MS patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, 115 members of the Mazandaran MS Association with confirmed MS were randomly selected to participate in the study. The patients were asked to fill out Numerical Rating Score and Nodric questionnaires, respectively. The data was analyzed by SPSS ver. 16 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the participants was 30.43±5.86 years and 88 cases (76.5%) were female. The mean disease duration was 26.34±24.32 months and 87.8% of the cases were experiencing pain at the time of study. The mean pain severity was 3.75±2.25 and worst pain experienced was 5.73±2.12. The most common pain sites were: the knees (55.7%), wrist (43.5%), and neck (41.7%). Women experience higher prevalence of shoulder, upper back, and ankle pain (P<0.05). In 62 cases (53.91%) MS interfered with daily functioning at least for a time. The prevalence of upper back and neck pain was higher in cases with a shorter disease duration (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pain was very common in patients with MS and not relevant to sex or age. In the majority of the cases more than 1 limb was involved and the prevalence of pain in the lower limbs was higher, especially in the knees. In females, the prevalence of pain in the shoulders, upper back, and ankle was higher compared to males. Also, neck and upper-back pain were found in the early stages of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: ShayestehAzar
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kariminasab
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid Sajjadi
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Saravi
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abedini
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fazli
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyyed Abbas
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: Masoud ShayestehAzar MD Mohammad Hossein Kariminasab MD Majid Sajjadi Saravi MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Pedram
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abdizadeh
keywords: Multiple sclerosis; Musculoskeletal pain; Pain measurement