Objective  To elucidate whether coffee consumption and caffeine intake was associated with various subtypes of pain based on extensive data from publicly accessible databases.

  Methods  The information was extracted from three cycles of the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999—2000, 2001—2002, 2003—2004), encompassing data on coffee consumption, pain information, and 11 covariates (including age, gender, race, etc.). Multinomial logistic regression in three models were utilized for analysis.

  Results  A total of 13 428 participants were included in this study, with a mean age of (49.79±19.06)years and a male-to-female ratio of 0.9∶1. Daily coffee intake: non-drinker 7794(58.0%), > 0-2 cups 2077(15.5%), > 2 cups 3557(26.5%); daily caffeine intake: without intake 7794(58.0%), > 0-200 mg 3152(23.5%), > 200 mg 2482(18.5%); pain situation: no pain or pain duration < 24 h 10 202(76.0%), acute pain 910(6.8%), subacute pain 369(2.7%), chronic pain 1947(14.5%). After weighting, 13 428 participants were expected to represent 190 million(190 709 157) U.S. citizens aged ≥20 years, and the overall prevalence of acute, subacute, and chronic pain in the U.S. population during that period was estimated to be 8%, 3%, and 16%, respectively. Without adjusting for covariates, individuals who consumed more than 2 cups of coffee or 200 mg of caffeine per day exhibited an elevated risk of chronic pain compared to non-coffee/caffeine drinkers, with an odds ratio of 1.354(95% CI: 1.187-1.544) and 1.372(95% CI: 1.185-1.587), respectively. After adjusting for partial covariates including age, sex, and race, individuals who consumed more than 2 cups of coffee or more than 200 mg of caffeine per day still demonstrated an increased risk of chronic pain with an odds ratio of 1.243(95% CI: 1.083-1.427) and 1.249 (95% CI: 1.072-1.456), respectively. However, after all covariates were adjusted, there was no significant association between coffee/caffeine consumption and chronic pain. Furthermore, the number of cups of coffee consumed or caffeine intake showed no significant correlation with acute and subacute pain.

  Conclusions  Compared with nondrinkers, heavy daily coffee drinkers may be more likely to have chronic pain, but it is affected by multiple factors. Basic research and prospective clinical studies are needed to further determine the causality in this association.