Abstract
Introduction: Pain is among the top underlying causes of years lived with disability. Hypothesis: Pain with higher chronicity and widespreadness is associated with shorter life expectancy free of major chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and dementia), and longer lifespan lived with chronic diseases. Methods: The study included a total of 427,464 women and men from the UK Biobank study, free of major chronic diseases at baseline and with available information of pain (categorized as short-term pain, chronic localized pain, and chronic widespread pain), followed up until May 31, 2021. Population-based multistate life tables were used to calculate life expectancy with and without major chronic diseases. Results: Chronic localized pain was associated with significant but modest loss in healthy life expectancy and gain in lifespan lived with chronic diseases. Chronic widespread pain was associated with the largest loss in healthy life expectancy. Men and women with chronic widespread pain at age 50 years had 3.17 (95% confidence interval, 3.07 - 3.30) and 2.74 (2.66 - 2.83) shorter life expectancy free of major chronic diseases, 1.86 (1.73 - 1.97) and 1.84 (1.75 - 1.92) longer life expectancy with major chronic diseases as compared to individuals without pain ( Figure ). Chronic widespread pain was associated with ~15% and ~10% shorter life expectancy free of major chronic diseases in men and women at age 50 years, respectively, which increased to ~40% and ~30% after age 80 years. In terms of life expectancy in the presence of major chronic diseases, chronic widespread pain was constantly associated with ~25% and >30% longer life expectancy as compared to those without pain in men and women, respectively. Conclusions: Chronic pain, especially chronic widespread pain, was associated with larger loss in healthy life expectancy and more lifespan lived with chronic diseases. Our study suggests chronic pain as a potential intervention target to improve quality of life.
Published Version
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