| Title: | Association between pain and incident arrhythmias in 422 654 individuals: evidence from the UK Biobank cohort |
| Journal: | European Journal of Preventive Cardiology |
| Published: | 20 Mar 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40112170/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf153 |
Publication 15550
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Abstract
AIMS: Pain is associated with cardiovascular disease; however, its association with incident arrhythmias is unclear. We assessed associations between different pain characteristics (pain type, chronic pain, chronic widespread pain [chronic widespread pain], chronic musculoskeletal pain [chronic musculoskeletal pain], and number of chronic pain and chronic musculoskeletal pain sites) and incident cardiac arrhythmias, overall and by subtype.</p>
METHODS: The study included 422,654 UK Biobank participants. Pain was ascertained via a touchscreen questionnaire. The outcomes were incident arrhythmias: all cardiac arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation (AF), other (non-AF) cardiac arrhythmias, bradyarrhythmias, and ventricular arrhythmias. Multivariable Cox-proportional regression was used to investigate the associations.</p>
RESULTS: Over a mean (SD) follow-up of 13.19 (1.96) years, 36,860 (8.72%) participants developed arrhythmia. Compared with those without pain, those with chronic localized pain and chronic widespread pain had increased risk of all cardiac arrhythmias (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.17; 1.34, 1.19-1.51), AF (1.09, 1.05-1.14; 1.33, 1.15-1.55), and other cardiac arrhythmias (1.17, 1.12-1.22; 1.41, 1.20-1.66). There was evidence of a dose-relationship between number of chronic pain sites and risk of all cardiac arrhythmias, AF and bradyarrhythmias. Effect estimates were significantly larger among participants aged <60 years than those aged ≥60 years, and larger in women than men.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: Chronic pain was associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Whilst causation cannot be assumed in any observational study, there was evidence of both a temporal relationship and dose-relationship. These findings reinforce the need for pain management approaches that include a broad assessment of individuals' risk factors, wider health status, and appropriate vigilance for emerging conditions.</p>
6 Authors
- Pei Qin
- Barbara I Nicholl
- Frederick K Ho
- Peter Hanlon
- Carlos A Celis-Morales
- Jill P Pell
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 7155 | Epidemiology of mental health, cognitive function, pain and cardiometabolic disease. |
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