Self-reported pain after MI linked to poorer survival
Moderate or extreme pain could also act as a barrier to rehabilitation and cardioprotective activities, researchers say.
Whether patients experience pain a year after an MI may predict their long-term survival, results from a study suggest.
Swedish researchers have found that self-reported extreme pain one year after MI is associated with a twofold increased risk of death from any cause compared to no pain.
And for those who report moderate pain, the all-cause mortality risk was 35% higher during up to 8.5 years follow-up.
The registry-based study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, compared various levels of pain severity among more than 18,300 adults (mean age 62) one year after MI.
