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. 2022 Aug;23(8):1437-1447.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.03.237. Epub 2022 Apr 10.

Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is Associated with Movement-Evoked Pain Severity in Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: Sociodemographic Differences

Larissa J Strath  1 , Andrew M Sims  2 , Demario S Overstreet  1 , Terence M Penn  1 , Rahm J Bakshi  1 , Brooke K Stansel  1 , Tammie L Quinn  1 , Robert E Sorge  3 , D Leann Long  2 , Burel R Goodin  1
Affiliations

Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is Associated with Movement-Evoked Pain Severity in Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: Sociodemographic Differences

Larissa J Strath et al. J Pain. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the leading causes of pain and disability in adults in the United States and disproportionately burdens non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals and females. Approximately 90% of CLBP cases are of unknown cause, and it is imperative that potential causes be explored. It has been reported that diet quality can influence pain state via diet-induced inflammation. The present study assessed the relationship between Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and movement evoked-pain severity in people with CLBP and investigated whether race/sex moderated the relationship between DII and movement-evoked pain. Results revealed no significant differences in DII scores between males and females, or between NHB and non-Hispanic White (NHW) participants. Participant sex significantly modified the relationship between DII and movement-evoked pain severity (P = .0155), such that movement-evoked pain severity was significantly impacted by DII scores in females, but not males. Participant race did not significantly moderate the DII - movement-evoked pain severity relationship. These results suggest that diet-induced inflammation may impact the CLBP experiences of females to a greater degree than males. Further research is needed to determine whether dietary interventions that reduce inflammation improve CLBP outcomes and whether these interventions may be differentially-beneficial based on sex. PERSPECTIVE: This article highlights the impact of diet-induced inflammation in a community-based sample as a whole, as well as stratified in various sociodemographic groups. This work expands our understanding of the influence of diet on pain experience and suggests that modifications to diet may be efficacious treatments for reducing chronic pain.

Keywords: Diet; Inflammation, pain; Racial differences; Sex differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic of the timeline events of the present study.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Representative graphs of A. Effect of DII on pain scores; B. Effect of DII on pain scores, stratified by sex with an interaction; and C. Effect of DII on pain scores stratified by race with no interaction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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