Association between chronic pain and physical activity in a Swiss population-based cohort: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To assess the bidirectional association between chronic pain and both subjectively and objectively measured physical activity (PA). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Population-based sample in Lausanne, Switzerland, May 2014 to April 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Non-stratified, representative sample of the population of Lausanne (Switzerland) aged 35–75 years. Participants were excluded if they had missing data for the pain or the PA questionnaires, for accelerometry (defined as >20% of non-wear time or duration <7 days) or for covariates. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Primary outcomes were association between chronic pain and previous, subjectively assessed PA (questionnaire), and subsequent, objectively assessed PA (accelerometry). Daily pain, pain duration, number of painful sites and pain intensity were assessed by questionnaire. PA was assessed by questionnaire 2 weeks prior and by accelerometry 2 weeks after completion of the pain questionnaire. PA was further categorised as sedentary (SED), light and moderate-to-vigorous PA. RESULTS: 2598 participants (52.9% women, mean age 60.5 years) had subjectively assessed PA. Multivariable analysis showed time spent in SED to be negatively associated with the number of painful sites: adjusted mean±SE 528±5, 522±7 and 502±7 min/day for 0, 1–2 and 3+ painful sites, respectively, p for trend <0.005. No other association was found between chronic pain and subjectively assessed PA categories. 2205 participants (52.8% women, mean age 61.7 years) had accelerometry-derived PA. No significant association between chronic pain and subsequent objectively assessed PA was found after multivariable analyses. CONCLUSION: In this Swiss population-based cohort, no consistent association was found between chronic pain and PA. Hence, in the general population, chronic pain does not significantly impact time spent in PA.