Generalized joint hypermobility and the risk of pregnancy‐related pelvic girdle pain: Is body mass index of importance?—A prospective cohort study

Introduction Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) affects approximately 50% of pregnant women. The mechanisms are multifactorial but not fully understood. Women with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) may be vulnerable to load in the pelvic joints during pregnancy. Our aim was to investigate if women with GJH had an increased risk of PGP and higher pain intensity during and after pregnancy, compared with women with normal joint mobility. We also studied if body mass index (BMI) in early pregnancy influenced that risk. Material and methods A prospective cohort study of 356 women, whose data were collected by self‐reports and clinical examinations in early and in late pregnancy and 9 months after childbirth. GJH was present with ≥5/9 points on the Beighton score. PGP was defined by a pain drawing and ≥1 positive test. Pain intensity was measured with a visual analogue scale (0–100 mm). We adjusted for age and origin in logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression analysis. Results In early pregnancy, 47.1% of the women with GJH had PGP vs 32.6% of women with normal joint mobility (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86–3.62) and had higher odds of reporting higher pain intensity (aOR 2.04; 95% CI 1.02–4.07). The odds of PGP were highest for women with GJH and BMI ≥25 kg/m2 (aOR 6.88; 95% CI 1.34–35.27) compared with women with normal joint mobility and BMI