TY - JOUR T1 - Chronic musculoskeletal pain JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 604 LP - 605 VL - 57 IS - 541 AU - Dawn Carnes AU - Martin Underwood Y1 - 2007/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/57/541/604.abstract N2 - Managing painful musculoskeletal disorders is a major part of general practice. Estimates for the proportion of the population consulting annually for musculoskeletal disorders, derived from general practice consultation databases, range from 6.6 to 20.7%.1 Fortunately, many patients improve independent of any treatments we may advise. However, a minority develop chronic pain and disability which has a substantial health and social impact. Predicting which patients are more likely to have a poor outcome from their musculoskeletal pain may help us to make better use of resources. The pain that presents most commonly for treatment — and which is perceived to have the highest economic cost — is low back pain. Consequently, it has attracted considerable research and policy interest in recent years. There is increasing recognition that low back pain commonly coexists with other musculoskeletal pain; and that the features of different non-specific pain syndromes may also have elements in common and frequently occur together.2–4In … ER -