The Association Between Smoking Abstinence and Pain Trajectory Among Veterans Engaged in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Care.

Hammett PJ, Businelle MS, Taylor BC, Erbes CR, Bastian L, Doran N, Sherman SE, Rogers ES, Burgess DJ, Fu SS. The Association Between Smoking Abstinence and Pain Trajectory Among Veterans Engaged in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Care. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2021 Aug 6; 22(8):1793-1803.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• IIR 11-291 – Proactive Outreach for Smokers in VA Mental Health

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively examine associations between smoking and nicotine abstinence and pain trajectory over 12 months among smokers with low, moderate, and severe pain and to assess whether these associations differ over time. DESIGN: A secondary analysis of the "Proactive Outreach for Smokers in VA Mental Health" study, a randomized controlled trial of proactive outreach for veteran smokers engaged in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health care. METHODS: Participants were categorized into "low" (n? = 616), "moderate" (n? = 479), and "severe" pain (n? = 656) groups according to baseline pain score. Associations between self-reported abstinence from smoking and nicotine at 6 and 12 months and pain trajectory, measured via the PEG scale (Pain intensity, Enjoyment of life, General activity) composite score, were assessed through the use of general linear mixed models. Interaction tests assessed whether these associations differed at 6 and 12 months. Analyses were conducted within the overall sample and within the separate pain groups. RESULTS: There were significant interactions in the overall sample and the low and moderate pain groups, such that 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence was associated with lower pain scores at 6 but not 12 months. In the severe pain group, 7-day abstinence from both smoking and nicotine was associated with lower pain scores across both time points. Six-month prolonged abstinence was not associated with pain scores. CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective analysis conducted among veteran smokers engaged in mental health services, 7-day abstinence from smoking and nicotine was associated with significantly lower levels of pain. Education efforts could help better inform smokers on the relationship between smoking and pain.