Association Between Poor Pain Control and Sensory Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Study

Poor pain control may lead to persistent physical discomfort and even reduced perceptual abilities. This research seeks to investigate the relationship between pain status and duration and sensory impairments.

This study used data on pain and sensory impairments from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted from 2011 to 2014, including 8043 participants. Functional status of vision, hearing, smell, and taste was gathered using structured questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between pain status, duration, and the total number of sensory impairments and specific sensory deficits, while adjusting for key covariates such as age, gender, BMI, and socioeconomic status. Stratified analysis was performed to determine factors that might confound this relationship.

The multivariable-adjusted regression model showed that individuals with pain for 1 to 3 years had a 64% increased risk of sensory impairment compared to those without pain (OR 1.640, 95% CI 1.132-2.376, P = 0.016), while those with pain for over 3 years had a 90.9% increased risk (OR 1.909, 95% CI 1.472-2.475, P = 0.001). We also found a statistically significant association between pain duration of ≥ 1 year and visual impairment (OR 1.841, 95% CI 1.252-2.705, P < 0.01). Furthermore, participants with pain duration > 3 years were significantly associated with olfactory impairment (OR 2.264, 95% CI 1.538-3.331, P < 0.001) and taste impairment (OR 2.070, 95% CI 1.335-3.209, P < 0.01). However, no statistically significant association was observed between pain duration and hearing impairment in any duration category.

The results of this study suggest that individuals with longer chronic pain duration are at higher risk of sensory impairments, particularly visual, olfactory, and taste impairments. Timely and effective pain management may help reduce the risk of long-term sensory impairments.