A pilot cross-sectional study of postpartum wrist pain in an urban chinese population: Its prevalence and risk factors

Background: wrist pain after childbirth is commonly encountered in clinical practice. little is known about the prevalence of this musculoskeletal disorder which is important to overall maternal health. objective: to examine the prevalence of and risk factors for de novo wrist pain in women after childbirth. study design: a pilot cross-sectional survey. setting: a telephone interview was conducted 2 months after childbirth among women who delivered at a tertiary hospital in hong kong. methods: the prevalence of de novo wrist pain was recorded; its severity was rated using the numerical rating scale and patient-rated wrist evaluation (prwe) with pain and functional subscale scores. results: in total,259 women aged 32.8 ± 4.0 years participated; 149 women (57.5%) developed wrist pain after childbirth and 125 (84%) had persistent wrist pain 2 months postpartum. the majority had moderate (43.5%) to severe (21%) wrist pain. bilateral involvement was common (56.8%),with most of the pain (59.3%) located on the radial side of the wrist. primiparity was associated with wrist pain development (odds ratio 2.62,95% confidence interval 1.33 – 5.16,p = 0.01); pain intensity was negatively correlated with the baby’s birth weight (β = -1.059,p = 0.013). mean prwe pain and function scores were 22.8 ± 10.3 and 15.6 ± 10.7,respectively. limitations: cross-sectional survey is prone to volunteer bias,though recent literature indicates that the bias may not substantially affect the internal validity of the study. conclusion: wrist pain is prevalent after childbirth; future studies may consider looking into its exact pathology,long-term consequences,and overall effect on maternal health. © 2017,american society of interventional pain physicians. all rights reserved.