Background & Aims
Climate change–related health literature has been rapidly expanding since 2013.1 Seasonality, extreme weather events, and weather variability are associated with climate-related hazards that can impact human physical and mental health.1-3 Not all people are equally affected by climate-related health effects. Most research is conducted in high- and upper middle–income countries, and major research gaps exist regarding mental and maternal and child health and chronic disease in lower middle– and low-income countries.1,3 To better understand the connection between climate change and health-related symptoms as they pertain to a positive move towards health inclusivity, we performed a literature scan to assess the potential effects of climate change on prevalence of pain conditions and their management.
Methods
A desktop literature search of published material from a variety of authoritative sources within the public domain was performed for the general category of climate change and pain with a focus on specific conditions associated with pain, including back pain (upper, lower, neck, shoulder), headache, dysmenorrhea, and osteoarthritis. Health effect data were summarized for the following 4 climate change effects or events: extreme weather (rising temperatures, severe winters, frequent/sudden weather/temperature changes, flooding), poor air quality (increased levels of particulate matter/allergens and air pollution), food/water insecurity (increased prevalence of people in lower-income communities with food/water insecurity), and vector-borne illness (expansion of geographical reach, increase in outbreak intensity, new exposure populations). This summary is not the result of a systematic review and is part of a planned comprehensive data search and review.
Results
Most chronic pain sufferers believe that weather affects pain levels , but clinical data results vary.4,5 Regarding musculoskeletal pain, higher relative humidity, increased wind speeds, and low barometric pressure, but not temperature, were positively associated with increased pain and stiffness .4,6 Increased temperature and humidity extremes were associated with increased risk of gout attacks .7 Migraine pain may be associated with increased humidity in warm weather, but cold-weather migraines were more likely when air quality was poor (increased ambient O3).8 Food insecurity, particularly in young adults (aged 24–32 years), was associated with increased prevalence of migraine.9 Poor ambient air quality (particulate matter >2.5 ?M) and/or residence in low-income communities that may also experience food/water insecurity was associated with dysmenorrhea pain,10 with pain-driven emergency room visits,11 and, in adults aged ?65 years, with fractures and osteoporosis .12
Conclusions
Evidence for the impact of climate change on human health is accumulating rapidly. Climate-related health research varies depending on location, but pain is a universal human experience irrespective of geographic region that may also be impacted by changing climate. The literature identified climate-associated factors including temperature changes, humidity, and barometric pressure to be associated with musculoskeletal and headache- and migraine-associated pain. Decreasing air quality accompanied by food and water insecurity, commonly experienced in middle- and low-income areas, is associated with multiple pain conditions and pain-related healthcare utilization. The results of this brief literature review suggest that more comprehensive analyses should be initiated to clarify the role of climate change in pain and painful conditions.
References
1.Berrang-Ford L, Sietsma AJ, Callaghan M, et al. Systematic mapping of global research on climate and health: a machine learning review. Lancet Planet Health. 2021;5(8):e514-e525.
2.Rocque RJ, Beaudoin C, Ndjaboue R, et al. Health effects of climate change: an overview of systematic reviews. BMJ Open. 2021;11(6):e046333. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046333
3.Climate effects on health. 2022. Accessed January 18, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/default.htm
4.Dixon WG, Beukenhorst AL, Yimer BB, et al. How the weather affects the pain of citizen scientists using a smartphone app. NPJ Digit Med. 2019;2:105. doi:10.1038/s41746-019-0180-3. eCollection 2019.
5.Beukenhorst AL, Schultz DM, McBeth J, Sergeant JC, Dixon WG. Are weather conditions associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain? Review of results and methodologies. Pain. 2020;161(4):668-683.
6.Schultz DM, Beukenhorst AL, Yimer BB, et al. Weather patterns associated with pain in chronic-pain sufferers. Bull Am Meteorol Soc. 2020;101(5):E555-E566. doi:https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0265.1
7.Neogi T, Chen C, Niu J, et al. Relation of temperature and humidity to the risk of recurrent gout attacks. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;180(4):372-377.
8.Li W, Bertisch SM, Mostofsky E, Buettner C, Mittleman MA. Weather, ambient air pollution, and risk of migraine headache onset among patients with migraine. Environ Int. 2019;132:105100. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105100. Epub 2019 Aug 22.
9.Nagata JM, Weiser SD, Gooding HC, Garber AK, Bibbins-Domingo K, Palar K. Association between food insecurity and migraine among US young adults. JAMA Neurol. 2019;76(9):1121-1122.
10.Lin SY, Yang YC, Lin CC, et al. Increased incidence of dysmenorrhea in women exposed to higher concentrations of NO, NO2, NOx, CO, and PM2.5: a nationwide population-based study. Front Public Health. 2021;9:682341. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.682341.
11.Men F, Urquia ML, Tarasuk V. Pain-driven emergency department visits and food insecurity: a cross-sectional study linking Canadian survey and health administrative data. CMAJ Open. 2022;10(1):E8-E18. doi:10.9778/cmajo.20210056. Print 2022 Jan-Mar.
12.Prada D, Zhong J, Colicino E, et al. Association of air particulate pollution with bone loss over time and bone fracture risk: analysis of data from two independent studies. Lancet Planet Health. 2017;1(8):e337-e347.
Presenting Author
Mary Cardosa
Poster Authors
Mary Cardosa
MD
Hospital Canselor Tunku Muhriz UKM
Lead Author
Pranab Kalita
MBBS
Haleon
Lead Author
Frédérique Bariguian Revel
PhD
Haleon plc., Nyon 1, Switzerland
Lead Author
Christie Oliver
MS
Haleon plc., London, England, UK
Lead Author
Pamela Kushner
MD
University of California Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA
Lead Author
Topics
- Epidemiology