• Juan J Madrid-Valero, Alessandro Andreucci, Eduvigis Carrillo, Paulo H Ferreira, Jose M Martínez-Selva, and Juan R Ordoñana.
• Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
• Eur J Pain. 2022 Aug 1; 26 (7): 1460-1468.

BackgroundChronic low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NP), and sleep quality (SQ) are genetically influenced. All three conditions frequently co-occur and shared genetic aetiology on a pairwise base has been reported. However, to our knowledge, no study has yet investigated if these three conditions are influenced by the same genetic and environmental factors and the extent and pattern of genetic overlap between them, hence the current research.MethodsThe sample included 2134 participants. Lifetime prevalence of NP and LBP were assessed through a dichotomous self-reported question derived from the Spanish National Health Survey. SQ was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire. A common pathway model with sleep quality and back pain as latent factors was fitted.ResultsOur results highlight that a latent back pain factor, including both NP and LBP, is explained by both genetic (41%) and environmental (59%) factors. There are also significant unique environmental factors for NP (33%) and LBP (37%) respectively. Yet, specific genetic factors were scant (9%) for NP and negligible for LBP (0%). Genetic and environmental factors affecting SQ only contribute with 3% and 5% of the variance, respectively, to the common latent back pain variable.ConclusionsNP and LBP share most of their genetic variance, while environmental effects show greater specificity for each of the back pain locations. Associations with SQ were of a limited magnitude.SignificanceOur results confirm a significant association between both chronic NP and LBP and sleep quality. Such relationship comprises both genetic and environmental factors, with a greater relative weight of the latter. A large part of the individual variance for chronic LBP and chronic NP can be accounted for by a latent common factor of 'back pain'. Genetic influences for LBP and NP were mainly shared. However, environmental influences were common for both problems and specific for each of them in similar magnitudes.© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

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