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Musculoskeletal pain and incident disability in community‐dwelling older adults
Author(s) -
Buchman Aron S.,
Shah Raj C.,
Leurgans Sue E.,
Boyle Patricia A.,
Wilson Robert S.,
Bennett David A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
arthritis care and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.032
H-Index - 163
eISSN - 2151-4658
pISSN - 2151-464X
DOI - 10.1002/acr.20200
Subject(s) - musculoskeletal pain , medicine , physical medicine and rehabilitation , gerontology , physical therapy
Objective To test the hypothesis that the number of areas of musculoskeletal pain reported is related to incident disability. Methods Subjects included 898 older persons from the Rush Memory and Aging Project without dementia, stroke, or Parkinson's disease at baseline. All participants underwent detailed baseline evaluation of self‐reported pain in the neck or back, hands, hips, knees, or feet, as well as annual self‐reported assessments of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), basic activities of daily living (ADLs), and mobility disability. Mobility disability was also assessed using a performance‐based measure. Results The average followup was 5.6 years. Using a series of proportional hazards models that controlled for age, sex, and education, the risk of IADL disability increased by ∼10% for each additional painful area reported (hazard ratio [HR] 1.10, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.01–1.20) and the risk of ADL disability increased by ∼20% for each additional painful area (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.11–1.31). The association with self‐report mobility disability did not reach significance (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.99–1.20). However, the risk of mobility disability based on gait speed performance increased by ∼13% for each additional painful area (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04–1.22). These associations did not vary by age, sex, or education and were unchanged after controlling for several potential confounding variables including body mass index, physical activity, cognition, depressive symptoms, vascular risk factors, and vascular diseases. Conclusion Among nondisabled community‐dwelling older adults, the risk of disability increases with the number of areas reported with musculoskeletal pain.