Abstract
Objectives
To identify the factors associated with the excess risk of pain observed among older
women compared with men.
Patients and Methods
We used information from a cohort of 851 women and men age 63 years and older who
were free of pain during 2012 and were followed up to December 31, 2015. Sociodemographic
variables, health behaviors, psychosocial factors, morbidity, and functional limitations
were assessed in 2012 during home visits. Incident pain in 2015 was classified according
to its frequency, intensity, and number of localizations into lowest, middle, and
highest categories.
Results
During a mean follow-up of 2.8 years, the incidence of middle and highest pain was
12.5% and 22.6% in women and 12.4% and 12.6% in men, respectively. The age-adjusted
relative risk ratios and 95% CIs of middle and highest pain in women versus men were
1.20 (0.79-1.83) and 2.03 (1.40-2.94), respectively. In a mediation analysis, a higher
frequency in women than men of osteomuscular disease, impaired mobility, and impaired
agility accounted, respectively, for 31.1%, 46.6%, and 32.0% of the excess risk of
highest pain in women compared with men. Other relevant mediators were psychological
distress (25.2%), depression (8.7%), poor sleep quality (10.7%), and lower recreational
physical activity (12.6%).
Conclusion
A greater frequency of some chronic diseases, worse functional status, psychological
distress, and lower physical activity can mediate the excess risk of pain in older
women compared with men.
Trial Registration
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02804672
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
BMI (body mass index), IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living), MEDAS (Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener), RRR (relative risk ratio)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Footnotes
For Limelight, see page 1655
Grant Support: This work was supported by FIS grants 16/609, 16/1512, and 18/0028 (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, State Secretary of R + D + I, and FEDER/FSE), the ATHLOS project (EU H2020-Project ID: 635316), and the JPI HDHL (SALAMANDER project).
Potential Competing Interests: The authors report no competing interests.
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