OBJECTIVES: Perceived health status is associated with morbidity and mortality. However, there is limited contemporary data assessing the association between pain severity and health status, which could be valuable in targeting interventions to improve health outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the association of pain severity and other characteristics with perceived health status among adults in the United States.

METHODS: This study involved a retrospective, cross sectional design and used data for United States adults aged ≥18 years in the 2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The independent variable was self-reported pain severity, and the dependent variable was self-perceived health status. Logistic regression models were used to identify statistical associations between pain severity and perceived health status, and were adjusted for potentially confounding variables. The complex survey design was maintained while nationally representative estimates were obtained.

RESULTS: The weighted sample consisted of 242,169,897 United States adults, of which 88.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]=87.4%-88.8%) reported excellent/very good/good perceived health status and 11.9% (95% CI=11.2%-12.6%) reported fair/poor perceived health status. In adjusted analyses, there were significant associations between fair/poor perceived health status and any level of pain severity versus no pain, age 40-64 versus 18-39 years, male versus female, Hispanic versus non-Hispanic, high school diploma or less versus more than high school, unemployed versus employed, poor/near poor/low versus middle/high income, fair/poor versus excellent/very good/good mental health, exercising <5 times versus ≥5 times per week, smoker versus non-smoker, and ≥2 versus <2 comorbid conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: This study found that greater levels of pain severity were associated with greater odds of reporting fair/poor self-perceived health. Several other variables were also associated with greater odds of reporting fair/poor self-perceived health. These associations provide further insight into the characteristics associated with perceived health status, which could be helpful identifying targets for interventions to help improve health outcomes.