Abstract
Evidence supports the benefits of resilience among older adults with chronic pain. While numerous factors confer resilience, research has largely examined these measures in isolation, despite evidence of their synergistic effects. Conceptualizing resilience from a multisystem perspective may provide a deeper understanding of adaptive functioning in pain. Sixty adults (ages 60+ years) with chronic low back pain completed measures of physical function, pain intensity, disability, and a performance-based task assessing back-related physical functioning and movement-evoked pain (MEP). Depressive symptoms, quality of life, and general resilience were also evaluated. To examine multisystem resiliency, principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted to create composite domains for psychological (positive affect, hope, positive well-being, optimism), health (waist–hip ratio, body mass index, medical comorbidities), and social (emotional, instrumental, informational support) functioning measures, followed by cluster analysis to identify participant subgroups based upon composites. Results yielded four clusters: Cluster 1 (high levels of functioning across psychological, health, and social support domains); Cluster 2 (optimal health and low psychosocial functioning); Cluster 3 (high psychological function, moderate-to-high social support, and poorer health); and Cluster 4 (low levels of functioning across the three domains). Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, individuals with a more resilient phenotype (Cluster 1) exhibited lower levels of disability, higher quality of life and psychological functioning, and greater functional performance when compared to those with a lower degree of personal resources (Cluster 4). No significant cluster differences emerged in self-reported pain intensity or MEP. These findings signify the presence of resiliency profiles based upon psychological, social, and health-related functioning. Further examination of the additive effects of multiple adaptive behaviors and resources may improve our understanding of resilience in the context of pain, informing novel interventions for older adults.
Highlights
Older adults represent the fastest growing population in the United States
This was a cross-sectional study based on a secondary data analysis from the Adaptability and Resilience in Aging Adults (ARIAA) study, a project evaluating the effects of resilience mechanisms on pain modulatory capacity among individuals with chronic low back pain (cLBP)
Two of the 69 participants discontinued after the first session due to time constraints, and 7 participants who were initially eligible were excluded during their first appointment (n = 1 use of exclusion medications, n = 3 exclusionary medical condition, n = 3 not meeting pain duration criteria), leaving 60 participants
Summary
Older adults represent the fastest growing population in the United States. As such, increased attention on enhancing the health and well-being of this cohort is imperative. The importance of considering the role of adaptive constructs in promoting successful aging (characterized by decreased disability, greater health-related functioning, and better life engagement) has been highlighted (Rowe and Kahn, 1997, 2015). In the context of functional limitations and decreased quality of life associated with chronic pain, greater emphasis should be placed on identifying factors that inform targeted interventions for pain in older adults. These investigations should account for the multidimensional nature of pain and the myriad biopsychosocial elements that influence it
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