The study on the association between smoking and pain intensity in heroin-dependent patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the relationship between smoking and pain intensity in heroin-dependent patients (HDPs) receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT).Methods A total of 603 HDPs from MMT outpatients completed a socio-demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire,a smoking questionnaire,Heaviness of Smoking Index,and Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale.Five-point Verbal Rating Scale was used to assess pain intensity.Results After adjustment for the confounding effects of socio-demographics,clinical characteristics,and depressive symptoms in the analysis of covariance,smokers had significantly higher pain intensity score compared with non-smokers (F=1 1.836,P=0.002).Multiple comparisons showed that the pain intensity level of patients with moderate-to-severe nicotine dependence was the highest,patients with mild nicotine dependence took the second place,and patients with no nicotine dependence was the lowest [(3.11±1.04) vs.(2.67±1.13) vs.(2.47± 1.15),all P＜0.05].Conclusion Smoking is significantly associated with pain in HDPs receiving MMT.The more severe the nicotine dependence that a HDP has,the intense the pain he/she has.