Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar;15(3):331-341.
doi: 10.1002/pmrj.12805. Epub 2022 May 28.

Pain, obesity, and physical function in Mexican American older adults during 20 years of follow-up

Wilma E Afunugo  1 , Chih-Ying Li  2 , Lin-Na Chou  3 , Frank Ward  4 , Soham Al Snih  4   5   6
Affiliations

Pain, obesity, and physical function in Mexican American older adults during 20 years of follow-up

Wilma E Afunugo et al. PM R. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Introduction: Pain remains largely undertreated in older adults irrespective of health care setting. Mexican American adults in the United States have a high age-adjusted prevalence of obesity. However, the association of pain and obesity with physical function is understudied in this population.

Objective: To examine the association of co-occurring pain and obesity with physical function over 20 years of follow-up in a cohort of older Mexican Americans who scored ≥7 (moderate to high) in the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) test and were nondisabled at baseline.

Design: Longitudinal population-based study.

Setting: Community-dwelling older adults from Southwestern United States.

Participants: Mexican American adults age 65 years and older.

Interventions: Not Applicable.

Main outcome measures: Physical function was assessed with the SPPB test (standing balance, timed 8-ft walk, and five repeated timed chair stands). Participants at baseline were divided into four groups: no pain-no obesity (n = 869), obesity only (n = 282), pain only (n = 216), and pain-obesity (n = 159). Generalized Estimating Equation models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of lower performance in physical function over 20 years as a function of pain-obesity grouping.

Results: Participants with pain only (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.34-1.95) and with co-occurring pain and obesity (OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.83-2.95) had significantly greater odds of physical function impairment over those with no pain-no obesity or obesity only, after controlling for all covariates.

Conclusion: Older Mexican American adults were at high risk for physical function impairment over time if they had pain or co-occurring pain and obesity. Early assessment and proper pain management as well as maintaining a healthy weight may reduce declines in physical function in older Mexican American adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Sample flow chart.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Percent of pain (A) and obesity (B) over 20-years of follow-up (N = 1,526).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Percent of those in pain and obesity groups over 20-years of follow-up (N = 1,526).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Unadjusted (A) and adjusted (B) mean of Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score as a function of pain and obesity groups over 20 years of follow-up (N = 1,526). Note: Figure 2.B. Mean scores of SPPB were adjusted for time (years), age (years), gender, marital status, education, nativity, comorbidities, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, body mass index, and handgrip muscle strength.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Raja SN, Carr DB, Cohen M, et al. The revised International Association for the Study of Pain definition of pain: concepts, challenges, and compromises. Pain. 2020;161(9):1976–1982. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001939. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gaskin DJ, Richard P. The economic costs of pain in the United States. J Pain. 2012;13(8):715–724. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2012.03.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zelaya CE, Dahlhamer JM, Lucas JW, Connor EM. Chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain among U.S. adults, 2019. NCHS Data Brief. 2020;(390):1–8. - PubMed
    1. Okifuji A, Hare BD. The association between chronic pain and obesity. J Pain Res. 2015;8:399–408. Published 2015 Jul 14. doi:10.2147/JPR.S55598. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief. 2020;(360):1–8. - PubMed

Publication types