Medscape (9/8, Johnson) reported, “Pain patients who smoke experience significantly more pain, depression, and anxiety than those who are nonsmokers — regardless of whether they suffer from centralized or noncentralized pain,” according to a study presented at the International Association for the Study of Pain 14th World Congress on Pain. Investigators “compared smoking rates, pain, and mood in patients with centralized (n = 347) and noncentralized (n = 624) pain conditions.” The study revealed “a high smoking rate (40%) in patients with centralized pain — almost double that of patients with noncentralized pain (26%; P < .001), and higher than the 20% smoking rate in the general population, said" the study's lead author Jenna Goesling, PhD.
