Table 2. Association between physical exercise and chronic pain in male and female university and college and university students.
| ICD-11 chronic pain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unadjusted model | Adjusted model§ | Fully adjusted model# | ||||||
| n | (%) | OR | 95% CI | OR | 95% CI | OR | 95% CI | |
| Women | ||||||||
| Physical exercise (frequency) | ||||||||
| Never/less than once a week | 2352 | (63.5) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| Once a week | 2501 | (61.7) | 0.92 | (0.83–1.01) | 0.94 | (0.85–1.04) | 0.96 | (0.90–1.00) |
| 2–3 times per week | 6719 | (59.6) | 0.85 | (0.78–0.92) | 0.88 | (0.81–0.96) | 0.92 | (0.84–0.99) |
| Almost every day | 3155 | (57.2) | 0.77 | (0.70–0.84) | 0.81 | (0.74–0.89) | 0.85 | (0.77–0.93) |
| Physical exercise (intensity) | ||||||||
| I take it easy without breaking into a sweat or losing my breath | 2902 | (64.2) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| I push myself so hard that I lose my breath and break into a sweat | 10072 | (58.8) | 0.79 | (0.74–0.85) | 0.81 | (0.75–0.87) | 0.83 | (0.77–0.90) |
| I push myself to near-exhaustion | 1200 | (61.3) | 0.89 | (0.80–1.00) | 0.89 | (0.79–0.99) | 0.92 | (0.81–1.03) |
| Physical exercise (duration) | ||||||||
| Less than 30 minutes | 1774 | (64.4) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| 30 minutes to 1 hour | 8034 | (59.6) | 0.80 | (0.72–0.88) | 0.81 | (0.74–0.89) | 0.83 | (0.76–0.92) |
| More than 1 hour | 4371 | (59.3) | 0.78 | (0.71–0.86) | 0.80 | (0.73–0.89) | 0.83 | (0.75–0.92) |
| Men | ||||||||
| Physical exercise (frequency) | ||||||||
| Never/less than once a week | 1151 | (49.5) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| Once a week | 758 | (44.0) | 0.79 | (0.69–0.90) | 0.81 | (0.70–0.92) | 0.83 | (0.73–0.95) |
| 2–3 times per week | 1955 | (41.3) | 0.70 | (0.63–0.78) | 0.71 | (0.64–0.79) | 0.74 | (0.66–0.82) |
| Almost every day | 1239 | (38.7) | 0.63 | (0.57–0.71) | 0.65 | (0.59–0.74) | 0.69 | (0.61–0.77) |
| Physical exercise (intensity) | ||||||||
| I take it easy without breaking into a sweat or losing my breath | 764 | (46.6) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| I push myself so hard that I lose my breath and break into a sweat | 3232 | (41.8) | 0.82 | (0.73–0.92) | 0.84 | (0.75–0.94) | 0.85 | (0.76–0.86) |
| I push myself to near-exhaustion | 755 | (40.0) | 0.75 | (0.65–0.86) | 0.75 | (0.65–0.86) | 0.77 | (0.67–0.89) |
| Physical exercise (duration) | ||||||||
| Less than 30 minutes | 540 | (45.3) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| 30 minutes to 1 hour | 2011 | (43.5) | 0.91 | (0.80–1.04) | 0.89 | (0.78–1.02) | 0.92 | (0.80–1.05) |
| More than 1 hour | 2200 | (40.5) | 0.80 | (0.70–0.91) | 0.80 | (0.70–0.92) | 0.83 | (0.72–0.95) |
§ Adjusted for socio demographics, body-mass index, alcohol use and problems and sleep duration
# Additional adjustment for self-reported depression