A greater number of somatic pain sites is associated with poor mental health in adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 One-month prevalence of somatic pains and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) scores by school grade

		Headaches		Neck and shoulder pain		Abdominal pain		GHQ-12 total score		Difficulty in concentrating on study		Frustration with poor academic performance
	N	N	(%)	N	(%)	N	(%)	Mean	SD	N	(%)	N	(%)
Demographic characteristics
Junior high school (7^th-9^th)
Males	4446	1273	(28.6)	509	(11.4)	1197	(26.9)	2.45	2.77	748	(17.0)	993	(22.6)
Females	4174	1807	(43.3)	951	(22.8)	1958	(46.9)	3.82	3.18	875	(21.1)	1185	(28.7)
Total	8620	3080	(35.7)	1460	(16.9)^a	3155	(36.6)	3.11^b	3.05	1623	(19.0)	2178	(25.5)
High school (10^th -12^th)
Males	4546	1215	(26.7)	630	(13.9)	1128	(24.8)	3.15	3.00	1004	(22.3)	1202	(26.6)
Females	4938	2123	(43.0)	1483	(30.0)	2066	(41.8)	4.62	3.19	1204	(24.5)	1433	(29.2)
Total	9484	3338	(35.2)	2113	(22.3)^a	3194	(33.7)	3.92^b	3.18	2208	(23.4)	2635	(28.0)
Total
Males	8992	2488	(27.7)^c	1139	(12.7)^c	2325	(25.9)^c	2.81^d	2.91	1752	(19.6)	2195	(24.6)
Females	9112	3930	(43.1)^c	2434	(26.7)^c	4024	(44.2)^c	4.25^d	3.21	2079	(22.9)	2618	(29.0)
Total	18104	6418	(35.5)^e	3573	(19.7)^e	6349	(35.1)^e	3.53	3.15	3831	(21.3)	4813	(26.8)

a: the prevalence of neck and shoulder pain was higher in high school students than in junior high school students (p < 0.01).
b: mean total score for the GHQ-12 was higher in high school students than in junior high school students (p < 0.01).
c: prevalence was higher in females than in males (p < 0.01).
d: mean total score for the GHQ-12 was higher in females than in males (p < 0.01).
e: the prevalence of headache and abdominal pain were higher than that of neck and shoulder pain (both p < 0.01).

ISSN: 1471-244X