The association between multiple sclerosis and pain medications.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Pain Medicine
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients experience a higher prevalence of pain compared to the general population.
• The specific characteristics and prevalence of pain in MS patients remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the occurrence and characteristics of pain in a large cohort of multiple sclerosis patients.
• To compare pain treatment patterns between MS patients and matched individuals without MS.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from three Swedish studies including 3877 MS patients and 4548 matched non-MS individuals.
• Assessed pain treatment using the Prescribed Drugs Register, identifying chronic pain based on medication frequency.
• Classified pain types (neuropathic, musculoskeletal, migraine) using Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes.
• Employed Cox-proportional hazard models to analyze associations between MS and pain treatment.

Main Results:

• MS patients exhibited a 2.52-fold increased risk of receiving pain treatment (HR 2.52).
• Neuropathic pain showed the highest risk increase (HR 5.73), with 34.2% of MS patients receiving treatment compared to 7.15% of controls.
• Chronic pain treatment risk was elevated (HR 3.55), with chronic neuropathic pain demonstrating the largest hazard ratio (HR 7.43).

Conclusions:

• Neuropathic pain is the predominant factor contributing to the elevated risk of pain in multiple sclerosis patients.
• The findings underscore the significant burden of neuropathic pain in the MS population, necessitating targeted management strategies.