Abstract
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, p = 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 (p < 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.
Highlights
Frailty is a decline in physiological ability with aging [1]
A total of 452 older individuals were enrolled in the Tarumizu Study 2017; 380 of them participated in a health check survey
Participants aged under 65 years (n = 1, the survey was undertaken before the participant’s 65th birthday), with a history of diagnosis of dementia (n = 7), missing data on physical frailty assessments (n = 2), no response to questions on pain (n = 1), and grip strength measures for those with unsafe conditions were excluded (n = 5)
Summary
Frailty is a decline in physiological ability with aging [1]. Cellular defects accumulate with age, creating a variety of disorders, including the loss of functional capacity [2]. Determinants of frailty can be considered according to domains (physical, psychological, and social) [3]. But its functional aspects are especially important in order to understand it [4]. Older individuals with frailty have an increased risk of negative health outcomes, such as falling, various disabilities, a lower quality of life, hospitalization, and mortality [1,5,6,7,8]. Early identification and assessment of community-dwelling older individuals with frailty is required to prevent progression to negative health states in an aging society
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