Citation

Stubbs B, Eggermont L, Patchay S, Schofield PA. Geriatr. Gerontol. Int. 2014; 15(7): 881-888.

Affiliation

School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich, London, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Japan Geriatrics Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ggi.12357

PMID

25163605

Abstract

AIM: Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) and falls are common among community-dwelling older adults. The study aims were: (i) to investigate the relationship between CMP and any falls (≥1), single falls and recurrent falls (≥2) in community-dwelling older adults; and (ii) to determine the discriminative validity of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to differentiate between non-fallers and (a) any and (b) recurrent fallers.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 295 community-dwelling participants (mean age 77.5 ± 8.1 years, 66.4% female) was carried out. CMP was assessed and classified as none (comparison group), single and multisite (≥2). The BPI severity and interference subscales were used, and falls were recorded over 12 months. Data were analyzed with logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC).

RESULTS: Over half of the participants (154/295, 52.2%) had CMP (41.6% single and 58.4% multisite pain). Participants with CMP were at increased risk of recurrent falls (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.03-4.88), and this risk was highest in those with multisite CMP (OR 3.43, CI 1.34-8.65). The BPI severity subscale showed good discriminative ability to differentiate between recurrent and non-fallers with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.731 (95% CI 0.635-0.826); a mean score of 5.1 had a sensitivity of 93.3% and specificity of 56.7%. The AUC for the BPI interference subscale was 0.724 (95% CI 0.630-0.818), and a cut-off score of 4.6 had a sensitivity of 84.4% and specificity of 57.8% CONCLUSION: Older adults with multisite CMP are at greatest risk of recurrent falls. In clinical settings, the BPI could prove useful to discriminate between recurrent and non-fallers. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; ●●: ●●-●●.

Language: en