Best Interventions for Working Adults Experiencing Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is defined as ongoing pain felt in the bones, joints, and tissue of the body that persists for longer than three months (Booth et al., 2017; Joelsson et al., 2017). Worldwide, 30% of the population has experienced some form of chronic pain in their lifetime (Guy et al., 2020). When living with chronic pain, it can become difficult for working adults to engage in their everyday occupations such as activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), health management, social participation, and leisure (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020). These troubles can affect an individual’s performance range by minimizing the number of activities they are able to comfortably participate in. The study by Stubbs et al. (2013) confirmed that older working adults with chronic pain are significantly less active than older working adults without chronic pain. The population of working adults with chronic pain and less physical activity is at risk for experiencing secondary consequences such as fear of movement, fear of falling, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and nervous system sensitization (Booth et al., 2017; Stubbs et al., 2013)