Pain prevalence in patients with chronic kidney disease

The prevalence of pain in patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) is not known. In the current study, we aim to determine the prevalence of pain in CKD patients and its associations with various medical and psychosocial factors.

Consecutive CKD patients who were presented to the renal clinic at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, a Los Angeles County tertiary referral center, over a 3-month period were interviewed on their medical and psychosocial histories and a history of pain including duration, severity and source. Chi2-testing for independence and binary logistic regression performed for the presence of pain and CKD stages as well as other medical and psychosocial factors were determined. A separate survey for pain was also done for 100 consecutive non-CKD patients who were presented to our ambulatory medicine clinic for routine care.

54.6% of 130 patients with known CKD interviewed were women. Any type of pain of at least a 2 week duration was reported in 72.9%. The most common source of pain was musculoskeletal. The presence of pain of less than a 2 week duration was associated with worse CKD stages (3 - 5 versus 1 - 2) and non-exercisers. Higher body mass index was associated with having pain lasting longer than a 2 week duration. Among patients who had pain, 33.8% used acetaminophen, 15.4% nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 7.8% combination analgesics. In contrast to CKD patients, only 9% of non-CKD patients reported to have any type or duration of pain.

Pain was much more prevalent among our CKD compared with non-CKD patients.