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Multicenter Study
. 2014 Nov;53(11):2071-9.
doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keu240. Epub 2014 Jun 12.

Pain at multiple body sites and health-related quality of life in older adults: results from the North Staffordshire Osteoarthritis Project

Rosie J Lacey  1 , John Belcher  2 , Trishna Rathod  3 , Ross Wilkie  3 , Elaine Thomas  3 , John McBeth  3
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Pain at multiple body sites and health-related quality of life in older adults: results from the North Staffordshire Osteoarthritis Project

Rosie J Lacey et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: Number of pain sites (NPS) is a potentially important marker of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) but remains unexplored in older people. This cross-sectional study investigated whether, in older people including the oldest old, NPS was independently associated with poorer mental and physical HRQoL and if the association was moderated by age.

Methods: A postal questionnaire sent to a population sample of adults aged ≥50 years in North Staffordshire, UK, included the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS), a blank body pain manikin, socio-demographic, health behaviour and morbidity questions. Participants shaded sites of pain lasting ≥1 day in the past 4 weeks on the manikin. OA consultation data were obtained for participants consenting to medical records review.

Results: A total of 13 986 individuals (adjusted response 70.6%) completed a questionnaire, of which 12 408 provided complete pain data. The median NPS reported was 4 [interquartile range (IQR) 0-8]. General linear models showed that an increasing NPS was significantly associated with poorer MCS (β = -0.43, 95% CI -0.46, -0.40) and PCS (β = -0.87, 95% CI -0.90, -0.84). Adjustment for covariates attenuated the associations but they remained significant (

Mcs: β = -0.28, 95% CI -0.31, -0.24; PCS: β = -0.63, 95% CI -0.66, -0.59). The association between NPS and MCS or PCS was moderated by age, but the strongest associations were not in the oldest old.

Conclusion: NPS appears to be a potentially modifiable target for improving physical and mental HRQoL in older people. Future analyses should investigate the influence of NPS on HRQoL over time in older people.

Keywords: aged; cross-sectional survey; health-related quality of life; mental health; multisite pain; pain sites; physical health.

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Figures

F<sc>ig</sc>. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of number of pain sites in NorStOP participants according to age group NorStOP: North Staffordshire Osteoarthritis Project.
F<sc>ig</sc>. 2
Fig. 2
Unadjusted relationship between mean SF-12 MCS or PCS and number of pain sites according to age group (A) SF-12 MCS. (B) SF-12 PCS. A lowess line was used to smooth the mean response profile in each age group. MCS: mental component summary; PCS: physical component summary; SF-12: 12-item Short Form Health Survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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