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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1570403
Exploring the association between dietary caffeine and chronic musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional analysis of NHANES
Provisionally accepted- 1Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 2Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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Background: The association between dietary caffeine intake and chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) remains unclear, with previous studies yielding conflicting results. This study aims to investigate the association between dietary caffeine intake and CMP.Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States. We employed multivariable logistic regression models, restricted cubic spline regression (RCS), stratified analysis, and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the association between dietary caffeine intake and CMP.Results: The study comprised 3797 participants, with a mean age of 50.11 ± 17.57 years and a CMP prevalence of 18.41%. After full adjustment, multivariable logistic regression and RCS regression indicated a linear positive correlation between dietary caffeine intake and CMP. For each one-unit increase in log-transformed dietary caffeine intake, the risk of CMP increased by 8.35% (OR: 1.0835, 95% CI: 1.0351, 1.1358). Compared with the Q1 (-1.00 - 5.44 mg/d), the ORs for individuals in the Q2 (5.45 - 6.83 mg/d), Q3 (6.84 - 7.85 mg/d), and Q4 (7.86 - 11.48 mg/d) were 1.1556 (95% CI: 0.8866, 1.5075, p = 0.2852), 1.4256 (95% CI: 1.1006, 1.8505, p = 0.0074), and 1.5238 (95% CI: 1.1685, 1.9920, p = 0.0020), respectively. Additionally, stratified and sensitivity analyses yielded similar results.Conclusion: The study revealed a positive relationship between dietary caffeine intake and CMP, suggesting that higher caffeine consumption may be linked to an increased risk of CMP. Based on these findings, CMP patients may benefit from reducing their caffeine intake.
Keywords: Caffeine, Chronic musculoskeletal pain, Logistic regression, Restricted cubic spline regression, sensitivity analysis, NHANES, Cross-sectional study
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Zeng, Chen, Liu and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhidong Zhou, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.