Characteristics associated with perceived interrelations of pain and smoking among people living with HIV

ABSTRACT

Persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) have very high prevalences of both cigaret smoking and pain, yet little is known about the relationship between smoking and pain for PLWH. The current study examines the perceived interrelations between pain and smoking and participant characteristics (i.e., demographics, heavier versus lighter smoking, current pain severity, depression, anxiety symptoms) in a sample of 101 current cigaret smoking adult PLWH in the Bronx, New York. Participants completed assessments of demographics, smoking behaviors, psychiatric symptoms, and pain severity. Interrelations of pain and smoking were measured using the 9-item Pain and Smoking Inventory (PSI) total score and three domain scores (pain as a motivator for smoking, smoking to cope with pain, and pain as a barrier for smoking cessation). Significant associations were found between greater current pain severity and greater endorsement of overall perceived interrelations between pain and smoking, pain as a motivator for smoking, and smoking to cope with pain. Greater anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with greater endorsement of overall perceived interrelations between pain and smoking, pain as a motivator for smoking, and smoking to cope with pain. Understanding the perceived relations between smoking and pain, as well as associated factors such as anxiety and pain severity, may help to guide interventions for PLWH who smoke in order to reduce the high prevalence of smoking and significant smoking-related health consequences.

KEYWORDS:

• Smoking
• cigarets
• HIV
• pain
• anxiety

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Alyssa Burns, Brittlyn Katz Pearlman, Christine Lee, and Kate Segal for their help with data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under grants R01-DA036445 and R34-DA037042; NIH/National Cancer Institute (NCI) under grant R01-CA192954; and NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) under grant K23-NS096107. This work was also funded by the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS Research which is supported by the following NIH co-funding and participating institutes and centers: NIAID, NCI, NICHD, NHBL, NIDA, NIMH, NIA, FIC and OAR; under grant P30-AI124414.