Chronic pain, cardiovascular health and related medication use in ageing African Americans with osteoarthritis.

Cross-sectional, self-reported data cannot show cause or order of conditions. Osteoarthritis and cardiovascular diagnoses were not confirmed with records, imaging, serial blood pressure measurements or medication reconciliation. The sample was a convenience sample of African American adults in Louisiana, largely female and highly educated, so generalizability is limited. The medication safety questions were optional, so the knowledge findings come from a much smaller group than the survey sample. Stroke history was excluded, and age was not accounted for in the cardiovascular morbidity score. Specific cardiovascular medications, including statins, were not collected.

Do not conclude that osteoarthritis pain burden causes cardiovascular disease or that high NSAID use caused cardiovascular events. The study was cross-sectional, used self-report, and did not find significant differences between low and high pain burden groups for any cardiovascular disease.