RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: 1) To determine the number of clinic visits in primary care due to musculoskeletal pain in children > or = 3 years. 2) To describe the demographic characteristics of the population assessed for limb/back pain. 3) To characterize the etiology of musculoskeletal pain in a general pediatric clinic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective lineal study was performed between October 30, 1996 and January 14, 1997 in two urban general pediatric clinics located in the city of Madrid (Spain). During the period of the study, all consultations related to musculoskeletal pain were registered in a protocol form. In addition, a registry of all clinic visits was maintained during the study. RESULTS: During the study period, 43 clinic visits were due to musculoskeletal pain, representing 6.2% (43/692) of the clinic visits in children > or = 3 years of age (95% confidence interval 4.4-7.9%). The mean age was 9.8 years (+/- 3.2 years). These complaints, although statistically non-significant, were more frequent in children > or = 10 years old (53.4%) and in males (65.1%). The most frequent complaints were knee athralgias (30%), arthralgias of other joints (23%) and soft tissue pain (18%). These symptoms were usually due to overuse syndromes and normal skeletal growth variants. CONCLUSIONS: The increase of primary pediatric care age from 7 to 14 years of age is associated with an increase in the number of consultations related to musculoskeletal pain. This information should be kept in mind at the time of designing continuing medical education and training programs in pediatrics.