Prevalence of Pain in COPD Patients and Associated Factors: Report From a Population-based Study

Objectives:To assess the prevalence of chronic neck pain (CNP), chronic low back pain (CLBP), and migraine among Spanish adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared with non-COPD patients matched by age and sex; and to identify predictors for each of these types of pains among COPD sufferers.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study conducted with data collected from the European Health Interview Surveys for Spain (EHSS) conducted in years 2009/2010 (n=22,188) and 2014 (n=22,842). Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic models.Results:The prevalence of COPD among patients aged 35 years or above were 7.6% (n=1328) for the EHSS 2009 and 5.4% (n=1008) for the EHSS 2014. We matched 2251 COPD patients with age and sex controls. The prevalence of all types of pain were significantly higher among those suffering COPD than those without COPD. For CNP the figures were 40.5% versus 26.1%, for CLBP 44.8% versus 28.4%, and for migraine 22.5% versus 13.2%. Multivariable analysis showed that COPD was associated to a 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.45) higher risk of CNP, 1.38 (95% CI, 1.16-1.64) of CLBP, and 1.36 (95% CI, 1.12-1.65) of migraine. Associated factors with the presence of these types of pain among COPD patients included younger age (not for CLBP), female sex (not for CLBP), fair/poor/very poor self-rated health (not for migraine), high blood pressure (not for CNP), mental disorders, obesity (not for migraine), and use of pain medication.Discussion:The prevalence of CNP, CLBP, and migraine was significantly higher among COPD patients in comparison with controls. Associated factors to suffering these types of pain in patients with COPD included age, sex, self-rated health, certain comorbidities including mental disorders, obesity, and using pain medication.