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. 2022 Jul 1;38(7):470-475.
doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000001042.

Relationships Between Cognitive Screening Composite Scores and Pain Intensity and Pain Disability in Adults With/At Risk for Knee Osteoarthritis

Sam Crowley  1 , Angela M Mickle  2 , Margaret E Wiggins  1   3 , Josue Cardoso  2 , Song Lai  4 , Jared J Tanner  1   3 , Roland Staud  5 , Roger B Fillingim  2 , Catherine C Price  1   6   3 , Kimberly T Sibille  6   7   2
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Relationships Between Cognitive Screening Composite Scores and Pain Intensity and Pain Disability in Adults With/At Risk for Knee Osteoarthritis

Sam Crowley et al. Clin J Pain. .

Abstract

Objectives: Chronic pain, cognitive deficits, and pain-related disability are interrelated. The prevalence of chronic pain and undiagnosed cognitive difficulties in middle age and older adults is increasing. Of the cognitive systems, executive function and episodic memory are most relevant to chronic pain. We examined the hypothesis that cognitive screening composite scores for executive function and memory would negatively associate with pain intensity and pain disability in a group of middle-aged and older adults with knee pain with or at risk for osteoarthritis.

Methods: A total of 120 adults (44 men/76 women), an average age of 59 years, participated in the study. Demographic, health history, clinical pain, and cognitive measures were completed. Relationships between pain intensity, pain disability, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) total and composite scores were examined with relevant covariates in the model.

Results: MoCA raw scores ranged from 13 to 30 with a mean score of 23.9. Pain intensity was negatively associated with overall MoCA total and executive function and memory composite scores. Pain disability over the previous 6 months was negatively associated with executive function, while pain disability over the past 48 hours was not associated with executive function.

Conclusion: The results of the current study demonstrates associations between pain metrics and cognitive domain scores within a common cognitive screening tool.

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Conflict of interest statement

Supported by the National Institute on Aging R01 AG054370 and R37 AG033906, K07 AG066813, and R01 AG055337 (University of Florida, Gainesville, FL). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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