Increased multiple sclerosis relapses related to lower prevalence of pain.

Objective: The study aims to investigate the presence of pain amongst multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Method: One hundred MS patients responded to questionnaires evaluating neuropathic and nociceptive pain, depression and anxiety. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U, Chi-Square and two-tailed Fisher's exact tests and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Women had a statistically higher prevalence of pain (p = 0.037), and chances of having pain after the age of 50 reduced. Women with pain had a statistically significant lower number of relapses (p = 0.003), restricting analysis to those patients with more than one relapse. After the second relapse, each relapse reduced the chance of having pain by 46%. Presence of pain was independent of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) anxiety, and depression.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a strong inverse association between relapses and pain indicating a possible protective role of focal inflammation in the control of pain.