Does pain tolerance mediate the effect of physical activity on chronic pain in the general population? The Tromsø Study

• Published in: Pain
• Main Authors: Årnes, Anders Pedersen, Fjeld, Mats Kirkeby, Stigum, Hein, Nielsen, Christopher Sivert, Stubhaug, Audun, Johansen, Aslak, Hopstock, Laila Arnesdatter, Morseth, Bente, Wilsgaard, Tom, Steingrímsdóttir, Ólöf Anna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) 2024
• Subjects: Tromsø
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003209; https://journals.lww.com/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003209

Abstract Knowledge is needed regarding mechanisms acting between physical activity (PA) and chronic pain. We investigated whether cold pain tolerance mediates an effect of leisure-time physical activity on the risk of chronic pain 7 to 8 years later using consecutive surveys of the population-based Tromsø Study. We included participants with information on baseline leisure-time PA (LTPA) and the level of cold pressor–assessed cold pain tolerance, who reported chronic pain status at follow-up as any of the following: chronic pain for ≥3 months, widespread chronic pain, moderate-to-severe chronic pain, or widespread moderate-to-severe chronic pain. We included 6834 participants (52% women; mean age, 55 years) in counterfactual mediation analyses. Prevalence decreased with severity, for example, 60% for chronic pain vs 5% for widespread moderate-to-severe chronic pain. People with one level higher LTPA rating (light to moderate or moderate to vigorous) at baseline had lower relative risk (RR) of 4 chronic pain states 7 to 8 years later. Total RR effect of a 1-level LTPA increase was 0.95 (0.91-1.00), that is, −5% decreased risk. Total effect RR for widespread chronic pain was 0.84 (0.73-0.97). Indirect effect for moderate-to-severe chronic pain was statistically significant at RR 0.993 (0.988-0.999); total effect RR was 0.91 (0.83-0.98). Statistically significantly mediated RR for widespread moderate-to-severe chronic pain was 0.988 (0.977-0.999); total effect RR was 0.77 (0.64-0.94). This shows small mediation of the effect of LTPA through pain tolerance on 2 moderate-to-severe chronic pain types. This suggests pain tolerance to be one possible mechanism through which PA modifies the risk of moderate-to-severe chronic pain types with and without widespread pain.