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. 2018 Oct;30(9):1482-1494.
doi: 10.1177/0898264317721555. Epub 2017 Sep 1.

Restricting Back Pain and Subsequent Disability in Activities of Daily Living Among Community-Living Older Adults

Una E Makris  1   2 , Mark A Weinreich  2 , Liana Fraenkel  3   4 , Ling Han  3 , Linda Leo-Summers  3 , Thomas M Gill  3
Affiliations

Restricting Back Pain and Subsequent Disability in Activities of Daily Living Among Community-Living Older Adults

Una E Makris et al. J Aging Health. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between back pain severe enough to restrict activity (restricting back pain) and subsequent disability in essential (e) and instrumental (i) activities of daily living (ADL) among community-living older adults.

Method: In this prospective cohort study, we evaluated 754 adults, aged ≥70 years who were initially nondisabled in eADL. Restricting back pain and disability were assessed during monthly interviews for up to 159 months. Associations between restricting back pain and subsequent eADL and iADL disability were evaluated using recurrent events Cox models, adjusted for fixed-in-time and time-varying covariates.

Results: Strong associations were found between restricting back pain and eADL and iADL disability, with hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 3.47 [3.01, 3.90] and 2.33 [2.08, 2.61], respectively.

Discussion: Restricting back pain was independently associated with subsequent disability in eADL and iADL. Interventions focused on decreasing restricting back pain in older adults may have the potential to reduce the subsequent burden of disability.

Keywords: activities of daily living; aged; back pain; cohort studies; disability.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Assessing Association between Restricting Back Pain and Disability Over Time
Example participant with restricting back pain (RBP) #1 and #3 reported within one month disability in activities of daily living (ADL). RBP#2 is not associated with subsequent disability.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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