Pain and subsequent mortality and cancer among women in the Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study

Recent research suggested associations between pain and subsequent all-cause and cancer-specific mortality. This study examined death and cancer development within six years of reporting pain, among women in the Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study. We found no associations between 'any' or 'chronic' pain and subsequent all-cause mortality or cancer. We found a higher risk of death from respiratory disease among women reporting pain (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.5), a higher mortality among women reporting chronic chest pain (AOR = 1.75), and a higher risk of subsequent cancer among women reporting head or abdomen pain. Given the high prevalence of pain symptoms, these findings may be important, and warrant further research.