Chronic pain and mortality risk among middle-age and older Japanese: the Shika town cohort study

Abstract – Introduction: – The relationship between chronic pain (CP) and mortality among the Japanese elderly population remains unclear due to limited literature.Objectives: – This study aimed to investigate the relationship between CP and mortality, stratified by age and sex, using longitudinal cohort data from the Shika Study.Methods: – This was a longitudinal study with 2849 participants aged ≥40 years (44.75% males and 55.25% females). Chronic pain, age, sex, tobacco smoking, height, and weight and self-reported information on medical conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were assessed using a CP questionnaire.Results: – The baseline mean age (years) was 64.00 ± 12.21 for men and 65.44 ± 13.12 for women. Among all participants, the mortality rate was significantly higher in males than in females (12.40% vs 7.80%; P < 0.001). The mortality rates among those with chronic headache (alive = 1.40% vs dead = 9.10%; P = 0.004) and neck/shoulder/elbow/hand pain (alive = 15.50% vs dead = 31.80%; P = 0.038) were significantly higher among the dead group compared to those alive in women. The odds of mortality associated with chronic headache (9.238 [95% CI 1.729–49.352]; P = 0.009) and neck/shoulder/elbow/hand pain (adjusted odd ratio 2.586 [95% CI 1.012–6.608]; P = 0.047) were significantly higher in females aged ≤74 years but not in males.Conclusion: – Chronic headache and neck/shoulder/elbow/hand pain were found to be independently associated with mortality irrespective of other covariates among Japanese rural women aged ≤74 years in the Shika town longitudinal cohort study, Japan. This study potentially highlights the public health importance and negative impact of CP in women aged ≤74 years.