Risk factors at birth, in childhood and adolescence for the onset of musculoskeletal chronic pain in adulthood: a scoping review

Background: Literature already confirmed that chronic pain is not only correlated to functional deficits, structural problems or neural alterations, but it is also strongly influenced by the presence of psychological and social factors. It was also observed that those factors can have an impact on the subject even after many years: in fact, pain experiences and traumatic events during childhood can lead to changes in stress and pain neural network area and to maladaptive behaviors that concur to develop chronic pain. The main purpose of this review is to identify the bio-psycho-social risk factors in developmental age that could lead to musculoskeletal chronic pain in adulthood. Inclusion criteria: Every study about risk factors in developmental age (0-18) for the onset of musculoskeletal chronic pain in adulthood will be included. This scoping review will consider studies conducted in any context. Methods: The proposed scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology (JBI) for scoping reviews. The search will be carried out on 6 databases: MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, Scopus, CINHAL, Embase, and PEDro. Selection and data extraction will be conducted by two blind independent researchers and inconsistencies will be resolved by a third reviewer. The results will be presented in a schematic, tabular and descriptive format that will line up with the objectives and scope of the review. Conclusions: This will be the first scoping review to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. The results will add meaningful information for clinicians especially during the patient s assessment. Furthermore, any knowledge gaps of the topic will be identified. The results of this research will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and will be presented at relevant (inter)national scientific events.