Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Musculoskeletal Pain in Young Adults with COVID-19: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study from Lanzarote (Canary Island, Spain)

Abstract

Introduction: Musculoskeletal pain during active Covid-19 infection is a very common symptom in this patient group. Given the lack of studies characterizing pain in young adults with this disease, we set out to identify and characterize musculoskeletal pain in subadults with COVID-19 disease in Lanzarote. Objective: Determine the prevalence and characteristics of musculoskeletal pain in young individuals affected by COVID-19 in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional prevalence observational study was carried out in the Covid-19 Monitoring Unit in Lanzarote between February 2022 and March 2022 which were a) males and females, b) aged 18 to 22 years old, c) with confirmed Covid-19 tests and d) no gender restrictions. Results: A total of 150 patients were recruited and an ad hoc telephone questionnaire based on the Spanish version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire was administered. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was 58% (n=87; men 41 (48.2%); women 46 (51.8%) and its intensity was 4.63 (1.23) Regarding the location of perceived pain, the common anatomical sites of symptoms presentation were right shoulder (n=14, 21.5%), right knee (n=13, 20%) and right leg (n=12, 18.5%). Participants also reported heaviness (23.0%, n=20), numbness (20.7%, n=18) and/or stiffness (17.2%, n=15) followed by thermal changes such as cold (21.2%, n=18), highlighting the presence of stiffness in 43.4% (n=36). On the other hand, 17.2% (n=15) of the respondents reported pain described as fixed, internal, deep compared to 14.9% (n=13) who perceived it as diffuse, fixed, internal and profound. Conclusions: The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was 58.0% in a sample of young people exposed to COVID-19 in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain). Furthermore, respondents generally defined it as an acute attack of low to moderate intensity in various parts of the upper and lower extremities, often accompanied by feelings of tiredness or muscle fatigue.