Association between Chronic Pain and Physical Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 1330
• Main Authors: Nakai, Yuki, Makizako, Hyuma, Kiyama, Ryoji, Tomioka, Kazutoshi, Taniguchi, Yoshiaki, Kubozono, Takuro, Takenaka, Toshihiro, Ohishi, Mitsuru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13-04-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adults; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Back pain; Blood pressure; Body Mass Index; Chronic pain; Chronic Pain - complications; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia disorders; Exercise; Female; Frail Elderly - statistics & numerical data; Frailty; Frailty - complications; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics; Grip strength; Health risks; Humans; Independent Living; Male; Missing data; Odds Ratio; Older people; Pain; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Prevalence; Quality of life; Regression analysis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Japan; older individuals; chronic pain; physical frailty
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16081330

This cross-sectional study investigated the association between chronic pain and physical frailty in community-dwelling older adults. We analyzed data obtained from 323 older adults (women: 74.6%) who participated in a community-based health check survey (the Tarumizu Study, 2017). Physical frailty was defined in terms of five parameters (exhaustion, slowness, weakness, low physical activity, and weight loss). We assessed the prevalence of chronic low back and knee pain using questionnaires. Participants whose pain had lasted ≥two months were considered to have chronic pain. Among all participants, 138 (42.7%) had chronic pain, and 171 (53.0%) were categorized as having physical frailty or pre-frailty. Logistic regression analysis showed that chronic pain was significantly associated with the group combining frailty and pre-frailty (odds ratio 1.68, 95% confidence interval 1.03-2.76,
= 0.040) after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, score on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, and medications. Comparing the proportions of chronic pain among participants who responded to the sub-items, exhaustion (yes: 65.9%, no: 39.4%) demonstrated a significant association (
< 0.001). Chronic pain could be associated with the group combining frailty and pre-frailty and is particularly associated with exhaustion in community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, there is a need for early intervention and consideration of the role of exhaustion when devising interventions for physical frailty in older individuals with chronic pain.