Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT Background and Aims Multisite pain is a prevalent and significant issue among adolescents, often associated with adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. We aimed to (1) predict multisite pain incidence in the whole body and in the musculoskeletal sites in adolescents, and (2)...

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Main Authors: Laura Joensuu, Ilkka Rautiainen, Arto J. Hautala, Kirsti Siekkinen, Katariina Pirnes, Tuija H. Tammelin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:Health Science Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70252
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author Laura Joensuu
Ilkka Rautiainen
Arto J. Hautala
Kirsti Siekkinen
Katariina Pirnes
Tuija H. Tammelin
author_facet Laura Joensuu
Ilkka Rautiainen
Arto J. Hautala
Kirsti Siekkinen
Katariina Pirnes
Tuija H. Tammelin
author_sort Laura Joensuu
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Background and Aims Multisite pain is a prevalent and significant issue among adolescents, often associated with adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. We aimed to (1) predict multisite pain incidence in the whole body and in the musculoskeletal sites in adolescents, and (2) explore the sex‐specific predictors of multisite pain incidence using a novel machine learning (ML) approach (random forest, AdaBoost, and support vector classifier). Methods A 2‐year longitudinal observational study (2013–2015) was conducted in a population‐based sample of Finnish adolescents (N = 410, 57% girls, 12.5 years (SD = 1.2) at baseline). Three different data sets were used. First data included 48 pre‐selected variables relevant for adolescents' health and wellbeing. The second data included nine physical fitness variables related to the Finnish national ‘Move!’ monitoring system for health‐related fitness. The third data set included all available baseline data (392 variables). Multisite pain was self‐reported weekly pain during the past 3 months manifesting in at least three sites and not related to any known disease or injury. Musculoskeletal pain sites included the neck/shoulder, upper extremities, chest, upper back, low back, buttocks, and lower extremities. Whole body pain sites also included the head and abdominal areas. Results Overall, 16% of boys and 28% of girls developed multisite pain in the whole body and 10% and 15% in the musculoskeletal area during the 2‐year follow‐up. The prediction ability of ML reached area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.78 at highest but remained mainly < 0.7 for the majority of the methods. With ML, a broad variety of predictors were identified, with up to 33 variables showing predictive power in girls and 13 in boys. Conclusion The results highlight that rather than any isolated variable, a variety of factors contribute to future multisite pain.
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spelling doaj-art-438fabdf9d4940e8820985495e53d9df2025-08-20T02:39:52ZengWileyHealth Science Reports2398-88352024-12-01712n/an/a10.1002/hsr2.70252Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal StudyLaura Joensuu0Ilkka Rautiainen1Arto J. Hautala2Kirsti Siekkinen3Katariina Pirnes4Tuija H. Tammelin5Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä FinlandFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä FinlandFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä FinlandLikes Jamk University of Applied Sciences Jyväskylä FinlandFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä FinlandLikes Jamk University of Applied Sciences Jyväskylä FinlandABSTRACT Background and Aims Multisite pain is a prevalent and significant issue among adolescents, often associated with adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. We aimed to (1) predict multisite pain incidence in the whole body and in the musculoskeletal sites in adolescents, and (2) explore the sex‐specific predictors of multisite pain incidence using a novel machine learning (ML) approach (random forest, AdaBoost, and support vector classifier). Methods A 2‐year longitudinal observational study (2013–2015) was conducted in a population‐based sample of Finnish adolescents (N = 410, 57% girls, 12.5 years (SD = 1.2) at baseline). Three different data sets were used. First data included 48 pre‐selected variables relevant for adolescents' health and wellbeing. The second data included nine physical fitness variables related to the Finnish national ‘Move!’ monitoring system for health‐related fitness. The third data set included all available baseline data (392 variables). Multisite pain was self‐reported weekly pain during the past 3 months manifesting in at least three sites and not related to any known disease or injury. Musculoskeletal pain sites included the neck/shoulder, upper extremities, chest, upper back, low back, buttocks, and lower extremities. Whole body pain sites also included the head and abdominal areas. Results Overall, 16% of boys and 28% of girls developed multisite pain in the whole body and 10% and 15% in the musculoskeletal area during the 2‐year follow‐up. The prediction ability of ML reached area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.78 at highest but remained mainly < 0.7 for the majority of the methods. With ML, a broad variety of predictors were identified, with up to 33 variables showing predictive power in girls and 13 in boys. Conclusion The results highlight that rather than any isolated variable, a variety of factors contribute to future multisite pain.https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70252child healthepidemiologymusculoskeletal healthpredictive modeling
spellingShingle Laura Joensuu
Ilkka Rautiainen
Arto J. Hautala
Kirsti Siekkinen
Katariina Pirnes
Tuija H. Tammelin
Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
Health Science Reports
child health
epidemiology
musculoskeletal health
predictive modeling
title Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
title_full Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
title_fullStr Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
title_full_unstemmed Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
title_short Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
title_sort prediction of multisite pain incidence in adolescence using a machine learning approach a 2 year longitudinal study
topic child health
epidemiology
musculoskeletal health
predictive modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70252
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