Persistent chronic pain may increase risk of dying early, says study

London: A new study has showed that middle-aged adults who are suffering from severe pain persistently are at an increased risk of premature death.

Chronic pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.

The finding showed that individuals who were often troubled with pain had a 29 per cent increased risk of dying early, and those who reported "quite a bit" and "extreme" pain interference respectively had 38 per cent and 88 per cent increased risks.

Ross Wilkie from the Keele University in Britain,"Our study sheds new light by showing that it is not the pain itself that increases the risk of death but the amount of disruption of everyday living linked to having long-term pain."

For the study, the team included 6,324 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and 10,985 participants from the North Staffordshire Osteoarthritis Project. The adults were aged 50 years.

Additional studies are needed to determine the mechanisms through which disabling pain may increase the risk of premature death, the researchers said.

According to a recent study, people who suffer from chronic pain tend to have diminished attention capacity and impaired memory and were also at risk of dementia.

The study was published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

(With IANS inputs)