Preadolescent children experiencing spinal pain may be more likely to have painful temporomandibular disease (p-TMD) and headaches when they become young adults. The study was published recently in the Journal of Pain.
This study suggests neck and/or back pain may be an early sign of vulnerability to pain conditions later in life, the authors wrote.
“These findings highlight the potential relevance of early-life spinal pain when considering later pain conditions across important developmental stages,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Mojdeh Mansoori of the department of dentistry and oral health at Aarhus University in Denmark (J Pain, July 10, 2026, Vol. 47, 106372).
Mounting evidence suggests that pain conditions that occur during childhood and adolescence may contribute to pain trajectories in the long term. Therefore, awareness of factors linked to the development of painful TMD and co-occurring pain conditions from early life may provide an understanding of pain that continues throughout a lifetime.
To explore whether preadolescent neck and pain is linked to p-TMD and headache in young adulthood, a longitudinal cohort study including 9,639 adults was conducted. Data from the Danish National Birth Cohort were used, and those who finished a TMD pain screening and headache questionnaire were included.
Spinal pain -- which included pain in the neck, middle back, or lower back -- at age 11 was measured using a modified Young Spine Questionnaire and was then categorized into three intensity/frequency groups. Logistic regression models were then completed, according to the study.
Compared to children who had no or mild spinal pain, those with moderate to severe or high-frequency spinal pain during preadolescence had much higher odds of painful TMD in young adulthood (neck: odds ratio [OR] 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52 to 2.25; middle-back: OR 1.74; 95%CI, 1.34 to 2.21; low back: OR 2.16; 95%CI, 1.64 to 2.85), the authors wrote.
Furthermore, there were similar correlations for headache (neck: OR 1.81; 95%CI, 1.49 to 2.20; middle back: OR 1.55; 95%CI, 1.20 to 2.00; low back: OR 1.64; 95%CI, 1.24 to 2.16), they wrote.
The study had limitations, including that fewer than 2% of the study's participants were of non-Danish origin. Therefore, the authors wrote, caution should be used when generalizing the results with different cultural and ethnic populations.
“These findings suggest that preadolescent spinal pain may represent an early marker of vulnerability to p-TMD and headache in young adulthood,” Mansoori and team wrote.
