Takeaway
Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) using metformin had lower odds of reporting recent back and knee pain, chronic back, knee and neck/shoulder pain and multisite musculoskeletal pain compared with those with T2D who were not taking metformin.
Overall, associations were stronger among women.
Why this matters
Findings suggest that metformin may have a protective effect for musculoskeletal pain, which appears to be stronger in women than men.
Study design
This cross-sectional study included 21,889 patients with T2D (metformin users, 58%) using data from the UK Biobank.
Funding: None.
Key results
Patients treated with metformin were at a lower risk of musculoskeletal pain for (adjusted OR; 95% CI):
back region (recent: 0.91; 0.85-0.97 and chronic: 0.87; 0.81-0.93);
knee region (recent: 0.91; 0.85-0.97 and chronic: 0.87; 0.81-0.94); and
neck/shoulder regions (chronic: 0.92; 0.85-0.99).
No significant association was seen between metformin intake and the prevalence of hip pain (recent: 1.01; 0.93-1.09 and chronic: 0.99; 0.89-1.08).
Metformin use was associated with a lower risk of recent (0.90; 0.83-0.97) and chronic (0.83; 0.77-0.90) multisite musculoskeletal pain.
For recent (back and knee pain), chronic (knee and neck/shoulder pain) and recent multisite musculoskeletal pain, the association was only significant among women:
recent back (0.82; 0.73-0.92) and knee pain (0.88; 0.79-0.89);
chronic knee (0.86; 0.76-0.97) and neck/shoulder pain (0.86; 0.76-0.98); and
recent multisite musculoskeletal pain (0.83; 0.77-0.90).
Limitations
Study could not examine the dose-response effects of metformin on musculoskeletal pain.
This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Sarfaroj Khan. Metformin May Have Protective Effect Against Musculoskeletal Pain - Medscape - Feb 16, 2021.
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