Somatisation plays a role in knee pain suggests large new study

Knee pain seems to be affected by somatisation in a similar way to back pain, according to research in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.

Somatisation is the tendency to experience psychological distress in the form of somatic symptoms and to seek medical help for these symptoms, which may be impacted by anxiety and depression.

Experts looked at data from over 14,600 adults (aged 20–64 years, 50% women) who had knee pain in the previous four weeks. Somatising tendency and disability due to knee pain was assessed.

The results suggest that people who have a tendency to somatise experience greater disability due to knee pain. The experts conclude:

“Somatization may play a role in disability due to knee pain in the general adult population with knee pain, similar to the role of somatization in low back pain.”

Click here to read the original research.

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