Chronic pain (CP) is a public health problem with harmful social and individual effects, and its relationships with physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors are unclear. This study examined the relationship between CP and PA and time spent watching television as an indicator of leisure time sedentary behavior, and explored the effects of major confounding factors. The information was obtained between 2012 and 2013 from individual interviews with 943 teachers from public schools in Londrina, Brazil. Statistical analysis was performed in 2014 using a logistic regression model adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, depression, and working conditions variables. The prevalence of CP was 31.9%. No statistically significant association was observed between PA and CP. In the adjusted analyses, CP was associated with time > 60 minutes/day spent watching television (odds ratio [OR] = 1.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03, 1.89) on weekdays. In analyses stratified according to body areas affected by CP, only pain in the lower limbs was associated with more time watching television (OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.06, 2.47). Watching television on a weekday for > 60 minutes is a sedentary behavior associated with a greater likelihood of teachers having chronic pain, especially in the lower limbs. This association was observed independently of the main confounders such as sex, age, leisure time physical activity, depression and working conditions.
Keywords: chronic pain; sedentary behavior; teachers, physical activity; television viewing.