Table 3. Association between physical exercise and moderate to severe chronic pain in male and female university and college and university students.
| ICD-11 moderate to severe 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 | 858 | (23.2) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| Once a week | 801 | (19.8) | 0.84 | (0.74–0.94) | 0.89 | (0.79–0.99) | 0.91 | (0.81–1.03) |
| 2–3 times per week | 2124 | (18.8) | 0.79 | (0.71–0.87) | 0.85 | (0.77–0.94) | 0.90 | (0.81–0.99) |
| Almost every day | 918 | (16.6) | 0.67 | (0.60–0.75) | 0.74 | (0.67–0.83) | 0.79 | (0.70–0.88) |
| Physical exercise (intensity) | ||||||||
| I take it easy without breaking into a sweat or losing my breath | 1037 | (23.0) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| I push myself so hard that I lose my breath and break into a sweat | 3043 | (17.8) | 0.74 | (0.68–0.80) | 0.76 | (0.69–0.82) | 0.79 | (0.72–0.86) |
| I push myself to near-exhaustion | 413 | (21.1) | 0.90 | (0.79–1.03) | 0.91 | (0.79–1.04) | 0.94 | (0.82–1.08) |
| Physical exercise (duration) | ||||||||
| Less than 30 minutes | 634 | (23.0) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| 30 minutes to 1 hour | 2419 | (18.0) | 0.74 | (0.66–0.82) | 0.77 | (0.69–0.86) | 0.80 | (0.72–0.89) |
| More than 1 hour | 1440 | (19.5) | 0.81 | (0.72–0.90) | 0.85 | (0.76–0.95) | 0.89 | (0.79–0.99) |
| Men | ||||||||
| Physical exercise (frequency) | ||||||||
| Never/less than once a week | 227 | (9.8) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| Once a week | 117 | (6.8) | 0.65 | (0.51–0.83) | 0.70 | (0.55–0.89) | 0.73 | (0.57–0.93) |
| 2–3 times per week | 284 | (6.0) | 0.57 | (0.47–0.69) | 0.61 | (0.50–0.74) | 0.65 | (0.53–0.78) |
| Almost every day | 220 | (6.9) | 0.67 | (0.55–0.82) | 0.74 | (0.60–0.81) | 0.79 | (0.65–0.98) |
| Physical exercise (intensity) | ||||||||
| I take it easy without breaking into a sweat or losing my breath | 141 | (8.6) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| I push myself so hard that I lose my breath and break into a sweat | 508 | (6.6) | 0.72 | (0.59–0.88) | 0.77 | (0.62–0.94) | 0.80 | (0.65–0.98) |
| I push myself to near-exhaustion | 133 | (7.0) | 0.76 | (0.59–0.98) | 0.79 | (0.61–1.03) | 0.83 | (0.64–1.08) |
| Physical exercise (duration) | ||||||||
| Less than 30 minutes | 105 | (8.8) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||
| 30 minutes to 1 hour | 319 | (6.9) | 0.75 | (0.59–0.95) | 0.75 | (0.59–0.86) | 0.79 | (0.62–1.00) |
| More than 1 hour | 360 | (6.6) | 0.70 | (0.56–0.89) | 0.72 | (0.56–0.91) | 0.76 | (0.60–0.97) |
§ Adjusted for socio demographics, body-mass index, alcohol use and problems and sleep duration
# Additional adjustment for self-reported depression