Association between alcohol consumption and musculoskeletal pain among employed and retired British civil servants

Problematic alcohol use has been suggested to be associated with higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) among manual workers; however, such relationship remains understudied among non-manual workers. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between alcohol consumption and MSP patterns among non-manual workers.
The study analysed 6847 non-manual civil servants and retirees aged 50-75 years from the phase 7 of the British Whitehall II Cohort study. Self-reported alcohol consumption was measured as average weekly intake and an alcohol dependency score. MSP was assessed through self-reported anatomical pain sites in the upper body and their frequency. Researchers used multiple-group latent class analysis to identify MSP patterns by age, sex, and employment status and the association between alcohol and pain patterns, was assessed.
There were 3651 (53.3%) reported MSP, with four patterns identified: all upper-body pain sites (6.9%), low back pain (LBP) alone (10.3%), combined LBP and cervical pain (24.8%), and upper-extremity pain (11.3%). Researchers did not observe any significant association between alcohol consumption/dependency and any pain patterns. Above-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with combined LBP/cervical pain (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.05-1.31) among retirees. Potential alcohol dependency was associated with upper-extremity pain among women (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.15-3.60) and early retirees (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.15-2.84).
No overall association between alcohol consumption and MSP was found. Increased spinal pain was found in retirees who exceeded recommended limits, and increased extremity pain was found in women and early retirees with potential alcohol dependency.
Source; Zhao, Z., Lallukka, T., Chandola, T., Britton, A. Association between alcohol consumption and musculoskeletal pain among employed and retired British civil servants: a multiple group latent class analysis. Eur J Public Health. 2026 Feb 1;36(1):183-192.