PAIN AND MORTALITY RISK AMONG ELDERLY PERSONS IN SWEDEN

The aim of this study is to analyse how the mortality risk varies with mild or severe pain in different locations: chest, back and hips, sho ulders, the extremities, abdomen, rectum and head. A Swedish nationall y representative sample of 1930 persons born 1892-1915 were interviewe d in 1968 (ages 53-76). Survivors were also interviewed in 1974 and 19 81 if they had not passed the age of 75 years. Proportional hazard reg ression was used to analyze mortality risk among persons ages 53-98 ye ars for the period 1968-1991. Relationships were found between mortali ty risk and headache, chest pain, abdominal pain, pain in the extremit ies and rectal pain. No relationships were found between mortality and pain in back and hips or in shoulders. There was a correlation betwee n chest pain and increased mortality among both men and women, but the association was significantly stronger among men. There was a signifi cant association between severe rectal pain and mortality among men bu t no similar association among women. Significant associations between mortality and chest pain and abdominal pain were found among persons younger than 80 years, but not among those older than 80 years. Pain i s an indicator of the quality of life and a symptom of underlying medi cal conditions. The finding that there are relationships between morta lity risk and pain in the chest, abdomen, rectum, the extremities and head may be of clinical relevance. These results, however, must be fur ther investigated since the relationships between reported pain and mo rtality do not imply that pain in these locations is necessarily sympt omatic of lethal diseases. Abdominal pain, rectal pain and headache ma y be indicators of diseases but can also be side effects of treatments for other diseases correlated with higher mortality. (C) 1998 Interna tional Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Scienc e B.V.