Association between chronic pain and acute coronary syndrome in the older population: a nationwide population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain (CP) may increase the risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS); however, this issue in the older population remains unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to clarify it. METHODS: We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to identify older patients with CP between 2001 and 2005 as the study cohort. Comparison cohort was the older patients without CP by matching age, sex, and index date at 1:1 ratio with the study cohort in the same period. We also included common underlying comorbidities in the analyses. The risk of ACS was compared between the two cohorts by following up until 2015. RESULTS: A total of 17241 older patients with CP and 17241 older patients without CP were included in this study. In both cohorts, the mean age (± standard deviation) and female percentage were 73.5 (± 5.7) years and 55.4%, respectively. Spinal disorders (31.9%) and osteoarthritis (27.0%) were the most common causes of CP. Older patients with CP had an increased risk for ACS compared to those without CP after adjusting for all underlying comorbidities (adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio [sHR] 1.18; 95% confidence interval: 1.07–1.30). The increasement of risk of ACS was more when the follow-up period was longer (adjusted sHR of < 3 years: 1.8 vs. <2 years: 1.75 vs. <1 year: 1.55). CONCLUSIONS: CP was associated with an increased risk of ACS in the older population, and the association was more prominent when the follow-up period was longer. Early detection and intervention for CP are suggested in this population.