Reduced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in chronic multi-site musculoskeletal pain: Partly masked by depressive and anxiety disorders

Studies on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) function amongst patients with chronic pain show equivocal results and well-controlled cohort studies are rare in this field. The goal of our study was to examine whether HPA-axis dysfunction is associated with the presence and the severity of chronic multi-site musculoskeletal pain.