Table 1.
Selected characteristics of the cross-sectional articles included in the review (n = 22)a
| Study / country / reference | Sample size, n | Age, y | BMI, kg/m2 | Body composition assessment | Parameter investigated | Body composition (Case, control) | Effect size (CI) Cohen’s d |
OR (CI) | Included in the meta-analyses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widespread pain (≥ 5 sites) | |||||||||
| Pan, Australia [35] d | 336 widespread pain, 137no pain | Baseline 63.3 (7.7) widespread pain, 62.2 (7.2) no pain | Baseline 28.8 (5.3) widespread pain, 26.2 (3.9) no pain | DXA | Total fat mass | 30.0 (9.5) kg, 25.0 (7.1) kg | 0.56 (0.36–0.76) | N/A | Yes |
| Yoo, Republic of Korea [36] | 229 widespread pain, 618 no pain | 60.8 (8.6) | 24.3 (3.2) | DXA | 19.1 (6.1) kg, 15.9 (7.5) kg | 0.45 (0.29–0.60) | N/A | Yes | |
| Multi-site pain (3 sites) | |||||||||
| Brady, Australia [18] | 133 (104 women), 42 multi-site pain 27 no pain | 47.9 (45.0, 50.7)c multi-site pain 46.3 (42.8, 50.0) no pain |
36.6 (34.1, 39.2)c multi-site pain 28.4 (25.2, 31.6) no pain |
DXA | FMI | 16.2 (14.5–17.9) kg/m2 multi-site pain, 11.0 (8.8–13.1) kg/m2 no pain | N/A | N/A | No |
| Temporomandibular joint pain | |||||||||
| Jordani, Brazil [44] | 299 (229 women), 159 pain, 70 no pain | 37.7 (12.2) pain 35.9 (13.6) no pain |
Not stated | BIA | Body fat percentage | N/A | N/A | 1.58 (0.72–3.48) | No |
| Neck pain | |||||||||
| Yalcinkaya, Turkey [45] | 160 (80 women), 40 case, 40 control | 44.6 (10.2) case 40.8 (8.0) control |
28.4 (4.3) case 28.3 (3.9) control |
BIA | Body fat percentage | Case Women: 46.6 (9.6) % Men: 37.6 (6.0) % Control Women: 46.0 (9.8) % Men: 34.2 (6.0) % |
Women 0.06 (− 0.38–0.50) Men 0.57 (0.11–1.01) |
N/A | No |
| Neck and shoulder pain | |||||||||
| Iizuka, Japan [37]e | 273 (179 women) | 64.3 (13.2) | 23.4 (2.9) | BIA | Body fat percentage | N/A | N/A | 0.98 (0.94–1.03) | No |
| Low-back pain | |||||||||
| Hodselmans, Netherlands [51] | 101 (47 women) | 39.2 (9.6) | Not stated | Skin fold | Body fat percentage | 30.4 (8.2) %, 26.4 (6.1) % | 0.55 (0.27–0.83) | N/A | Yes |
| Spyropoulos, Greece [52] | 60 (all women), 30 case, 30 control |
41.7 (7.3) case 42.2 (7.3) control |
27.1 (3.4) case 25.3 (3.1) control |
Skin fold | 34.7 (5.1) %, 31.3 (5.2) % | 0.66 (0.13–1.17) | N/A | Yes | |
| Iizuka, Japan [37]e | 273 (179 women) | 64.3 (13.2) | 23.4 (2.9) | BIA | N/A | N/A | 0.97 (0.93–1.02) | Yes | |
| Dario, Spain [47] | 687 (all women), 313 pain, 374 no pain | 53.6 (7.4) pain 52.2 (7.4) no pain |
27.7 (5.2) pain 26.8 (4.6) no pain |
BIA | Body fat percentage | N/A | N/A | 1.15 (1.01–1.32) | Yes |
| Toda, Japan [48] | 330 (206 women), 203 case 127 control |
Men: 55.6 (8.8) case, 57.7 (9.8) control Women: 60.0 (9.2) case, 57.6 (8.1) control |
Men: 23.9 (2.4) case, 23.9 (3.1) control Women:22.7 (3.4) case, 22.7 (3.3) control |
BIA | Women 29.7 (6.8) %, 27.9 (6.7) % Men 23.8 (5.2) %, 22.3 (6.1) % |
Women 0.27 (−0.01–0.54) Men 0.27 (− 0.10–0.64) |
N/A N/A |
Yes | |
| Sakai, Japan [43] | 660 (311 women), 100 case, 560 control | 74.4 (6.0) case, 73.2 (7.6) control | 23.6 (3.2) case, 24.2 (3.5) control | DXA | Women: 41.1 (4.1) %, 34.3 (8.8) % Men: 35.8 (6.7) %, 27.7 (7.6) % |
Women: 0.83 (0.09–1.54) Men: 1.08 (0.76–1.40) |
N/A N/A |
Yes | |
| Celan, Slovenia [46] | 112 (all men), 76 pain 36 no pain | 44.2 (5.6), range 31–56 | 27.7 pain, 27.9 no pain | BIA | Case 26.4% Control 25.5% |
N/A | N/A | No | |
| Urquhart, Australia [20] | 135 (113 women), 29 high pain, 106 no or low pain | 47.4 (9.0) range 25–62 | 32.6 (8.7), range 18–55 | DXA | Total fat mass | N/A | N/A | Pain intensity 1.19 (1.04–1.38) Disability 1.41 (1.20–1.67) |
No |
| Chou, Australia [38] | 820 (all men), 124 high pain, 696 no or low pain | 62.9 (14.0) high pain 58.1 (17.1) no or low pain |
28.6 (4.5) high pain 27.2 (4.1) no or low pain |
DXA | Total fat mass | High pain disability / intensity 25.9 (7.9) kg No or low disability / intensity 23.0 (8.6) kg |
0.34 (0.15–0.53) | N/A | No |
| Knee pain | |||||||||
| Ozer Kaya, Turkey [49] | 149 (all women), 52 cases, 97 controls | 42.6 (4.1) case 41.7 (4.2) control |
30.5 (5.3) case 29.4 (4.6) control |
BIA | Body fat percentage | 39.3 (7.9) %, 38.1 (7.7) % | 0.15 (−0.19–0.49) | N/A | Yes |
| Scott, Australia [39] | 709 (357 women), 311 pain, 398 no pain | Men: 62.0 (7.2) pain, 63 (7.3) no pain Women: 61.7 (7.5) pain, 62.0 (7.0) no pain |
Men: 28.2 (3.8) pain 27.0 (3.5) no pain Women: 28.2 (5.6) pain, 27.0 (4.4) no pain |
DXA | Women 40.1 (5.5%, 39.0 (5.0) % Men 28.0 (5.2) %, 27.2 (4.4) % |
Women 0.21 (0.00–0.42) Men 0.17 (− 0.04–0.38) |
N/A N/A |
Yes | |
| Sutbeyaz, Turkey [53] | 56 (32 women), 28 cases 28 control |
44.0 (10.2) case 43.7 (10.0) control |
33.3 (3.7) case 34.8 (3.5) control |
Skin fold | Total fat mass | Case 29.4 (7.2) kg Control 33.6 (7.5) kg |
−0.57 (−1.10- -0.03) | No | No |
| Shin pain | |||||||||
| Sabeti, Iran [50] | 35 (gender not stated), 17 cases 18 control |
21.1 (2.3) case 20.7 (2.5) control |
21.7 (2.7) case 20.7 (2.2) control |
BIA | Body fat percentage | Case 27.8 (7.2) % Control 23.4 (5.8) % |
0.68 (−0.02–1.34) | N/A | No |
| Foot pain | |||||||||
| Walsh, Australia [41] | 88 (all women), 44 cases, 44 control | 56.6 (10.3) case 56.7 (6.5) control |
29.3 (9.9) case 27.6 (10.5) control |
DXA | 12.5 (5.1) kg/m2, 12.0 (4.9) kg/m2 | 0.10 (−0.32–0.52) | N/A | Yes | |
| Walsh, Australia [16] | 1066 | 64.6 (10.3) | 28.4 (5.1) | DXA | N/A | N/A | 1.08 (1.04–1.12) | Yes | |
| Tanamas, Australia [40] | 136 (114 women), 75 pain, 61 no pain | 47.5 (9.2) pain 47.7 (8.8) no pain |
35.1 (7.8) pain 28.4 (7.6) no pain |
DXA | FMI | N/A | N/A | 1.16 (1.06–1.28) | Yes |
| Butterworth, Australia [42] | 796 (all men), 177 pain, 619 no pain | 68 (24–90)b pain 57 (25–98)b no pain |
28.0 (4.3) pain 27.1 (3.8) no pain |
DXA | N/A | N/A | 1.08 (1.01–1.15) | Yes | |
OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval, BMI body mass index, kg kilogram, m2 metres squared, DXA Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, FMI fat mass index, BIA bioelectrical impedance analysis, N/A not applicable
aValues are mean (SD) unless otherwise stated
bmedian (range)
cmean (95% CI)
dcross-sectional and longitudinal study
eDuplicate study