Among veterans with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, current smoking is more strongly associated with pain intensity, a new study found. The cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study included veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) who had at least 1 visit to a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) primary care clinic between 2001 and 2014. Pain intensity was reported on a 0-10 numeric scale and was categorized as none/mild (0-3) and moderate/severe (4-10). Among the details:

• Among 654,841 OEF/OIF/OND veterans (median age 26 years), 2,942 (0.4%) were diagnosed with HCV.
• Overall, moderate/severe pain intensity was reported in 36% of veterans, with 37% as current smokers.
• The adjusted odds of reporting moderate/severe pain intensity were 1.23 times higher for those with HCV and 1.26 times higher for current smokers.
• Among veterans with HCV, smoking had a significantly greater association with moderate/severe pain (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.50) than in veterans without HCV (aOR=1.26).