Number of musculoskeletal pain sites leads to increased long-term healthcare contacts and healthcare related costs - a Danish population-based cohort study.

We found evidence for a causal association between increasing number of pain sites and greater healthcare use and cost, and high levels of health anxiety did not increase the strength of this association. This suggests that number of pain sites could be a potential target for biopsychosocial interventions in order to reduce the need for future care-seeking.