Assessing the Relationship Between Pain Intensity and Health Status Among Older US Adult Opioid Users With Pain

OBJECTIVES: Pain is a prevalent condition in the United States (US). Opioids are commonly used to manage pain, but are sometimes inappropriately used. The number of older US adults is increasing, yet extra life years are not always spent in good health. This study explored the relationship between pain intensity and health status among older US adult opioid users with pain.

METHODS: Eligible individuals from the 2020 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey included US adults aged ≥50 with pain who used an opioid in 2020. The relationship between pain intensity and health status was assessed using multivariable logistic regression adjusting for demographic, economic, and health variables. Alpha=0.05 was selected a priori.

RESULTS: Most (60.2%) older US adult opioid users with pain reported having good health (versus 39.8% poor health). Those with extreme pain (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.10-0.35) and quite a bit of pain (OR=0.34, 95%CI=0.19-0.60) had lower odds of reporting good health compared to those with little pain. There was no statistical relationship between health status for moderate versus little pain. In addition, males (versus females; OR=0.61, 95%CI=0.40-0.91), white race (versus not white; OR=0.43, 95%CI=0.22-0.84), education ≤high school (versus >high school; OR=0.61, 95%CI=0.41-0.92), and current smoker (versus non-smoker; OR=0.55, 95%CI=0.3-0.93) were associated with lower odds of reporting good health. Meanwhile, being employed (versus unemployed; OR=1.88, 95%CI=1.06-3.33), having <2 chronic conditions (versus ≥2; OR=4.38, 95%CI=1.91-10.02), and doing regular physical activity (versus not; OR=2.69, 95%CI=1.73-4.19) were associated with higher odds of reporting good health.

CONCLUSIONS: Older US adult opioid users with extreme or quite bit of pain had lower odds of reporting good health compared to those with little pain. Other demographic, economic, and health variables were statistically related to good health and should be considered when assessing the health needs of older US adult opioid users with pain.