In adult-onset asthma, chronic pain associates with increased asthma morbidity

<bold>Background:</bold> Comorbidities may impact asthma control. Further, asthma and chronic pain have similar background factors and associated diseases. If chronic pain relates to increased asthma morbidity is not clear. <bold>Aim:</bold> To compare clinical characteristics in adult-onset asthma with and without chronic pain. <bold>Methods:</bold> Individuals with adult-onset asthma from two countries were included. The Swedish Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) cohort included 251 individuals and chronic pain was defined as self-reported use of medication for chronic pain (n=34). The Finnish Seinäjoki Adult Asthma Study (SAAS) cohort included 203 individuals, and chronic pain was defined as being prescribed pain killers regularly or antiepileptic medications without diagnosis of epilepsy (n=28). <bold>Results:</bold> In OLIN, median age was 64y vs 64y in those with vs without chronic pain (p=0.764). In SAAS the corresponding figures were 63y vs 57y (p=0.048). Those with chronic pain had more packyears of smoking vs those without chronic pain (OLIN:18.7 vs 12.1, p=0.035, and SAAS:19.2 vs 16.2, p=0.006), higher daily SABA use (OLIN:41.2% vs 10.1%, p<0.001, and SAAS:25.0% vs 9.1%, p=0.023), and lower mean ACT scores (OLIN:18.9 vs 21.9, p<0.001, and SAAS:19.1 vs 21.2, p=0.012). In OLIN, those with chronic pain had more exacerbations (76.5% vs 50.2%, p=0.004), and long-term sick leaves (≥6months) ever due to asthma (11.8% vs 2.3%, p=0.006). In SAAS, sick leaves (≥3 days/past 2y) were more common among those with chronic pain (15.8% vs 2.9%, p=0.037). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> In individuals with adult-onset asthma, chronic pain associates with increased use of reliever treatment, reduced symptom control and more exacerbations and sick leaves.