Non-verbal cues to identify osteoarthritic knee or hip pain in elders

Abstract

Knee and hip pain from osteoarthritis (OA) are the leading causes of disability in elders, but little attention has been paid to OA knee or hip pain in the elderly population, and even less attention to elders who are unable to verbally express their pain. An alternative to verbal report is needed to identify OA knee or hip pain in this population. The study was designed to determine whether motor and gait patterns predicted knee or hip pain in elders. Research questions were: 1) what are the sensitivity and specificity of a pain assessment model combining motor patterns and gait patterns in predicting self-report of pain by elders who can verbally express their pain, controlling for age, gender, race, obesity, and physical function? 2) what is the best model to predict verbal report of pain if elders cannot verbally express their pain and thus only non--verbal cues are available? Pain report, gait patterns, and motor patterns were assessed in 192 elders.