Psychological predictors of change in the number of musculoskeletal pain sites among Norwegian employees: a prospective study

Table 4 Multivariable multinomial logistic regression with all predictors entered simultaneously and NPS decrease and increase as outcomes, with stable NPS as reference (N = 2199)

T1 Predictor	Decrease NPS		Increase NPS
T1 Predictor	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Emotional exhaustion	0.92	[0.71–1.19]	1.00	[0.78–1.34]
Mental distress	0.87	[0.53–1.44]	1.50	[0.90–2.50]
Depression (single item)	1.20	[0.93–1.56]	0.95	[0.73–1.25]
Anxiety (single item)	1.14	[0.80–1.62]	0.95	[0.66–1.35]
Psychological well-being
“Had a lot of surplus”	0.87	[0.78–0.97] **	0.94	[0.84–1.05]
“Felt down and sad”	1.06	[0.91–1.24]	1.07	[0.91–1.26]
Dispositional optimism	1.05	[0.87–1.27]	1.07	[0.88–1.30]
General self-efficacy	1.06	[0.85–1.31]	1.09	[0.87–1.37]
Job satisfaction (single item)	0.96	[0.80–1.15]	1.14	[0.93–1.39]
Sleep disturbance	0.96	[0.84–1.10]	1.07	[0.93–1.23]
Tiredness	0.86	[0.72–1.02]	0.99	[0.82–1.18]
Restlessness	0.77	[0.62–0.96] *	0.95	[0.76–1.18]
Pain intensity
Headache	0.90	[0.77–1.04]	1.09	[0.94–1.26]
Neck pain	0.63	[0.53–0.76] ***	0.96	[0.81–1.15]
Shoulder pain	0.79	[0.66–0.93] **	1.07	[0.90–1.28]
Leg pain	0.90	[0.76–1.07]	1.01	[0.83–1.22]
Back pain	0.78	[0.66–0.92] ***	1.04	[0.88–1.23]
Arm pain	0.91	[0.77–1.09]	1.01	[0.83–1.22]
Number of pain sites	2.04	[1.69–2.47] ***	0.69	[0.56–0.85] ***

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
Note: Subjects that reported either no pain sites or five pain sites at T1 were excluded since they could not experience decrease or increase of NPS, correspondingly. Adjustment was made for sex, age group, and skill level