The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Those with Chronic Pain: Preliminary Findings from the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk

Chronic pain affects one-fifth of U.S. adults and causes considerable physical, psychological, and economic burden. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these hardships and disproportionately impacted individuals with pre-existing health conditions like chronic pain. For the present study, follow-up surveys were administered every 6-months to pain-free participants enrolled in the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk (OK-SNAP) to assess chronic pain onset. Participants were classified as having chronic pain if they endorsed significant pain for >3 months that did not remit on subsequent surveys. An additional survey, the Coronavirus Impact Questionnaire (CIQ), was created and administered in March 2021 to OK-SNAP enrollees to assess self-reported effects of the pandemic. Participants with and without chronic pain were compared on responses to the CIQ. As of December 2020, 18 participants endorsed chronic pain, 23 endorsed intermittent pain, and 80 were pain-free. For the present analyses, participants with intermittent pain were excluded. Ethnic differences were not assessed due to small cell sizes, particularly among those with chronic pain. Results indicated that individuals with chronic pain were more likely to report the following pandemic-related impacts: financial difficulties (p = 0.021), needing financial assistance from others (p = 0.005), loss of access to healthcare/treatment for illnesses that needed immediate attention (p = 0.006), worsening of physical (p = 0.011) or mental health problems (p = 0.032), sleep disruptions (p < 0.001), and increased intake of unhealthy foods (p = 0.047). It appears chronic pain patients experienced more negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic than did healthy individuals, but reasons behind this disparity are unclear. Further, ethnic differences were not assessed but could represent a source of variance in pandemic-related outcomes. Further research is needed to ascertain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain patients and to determine if these effects differ by ethnicity. This research was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01MD007807, and by the University of Tulsa Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.