Chronic pain and circumstances of falls in community-living older adults: an exploratory study

Background: Chronic pain is a risk factor contributing to mobility impairment and falls in older adults. Little is known about the patterns of circumstances of falls among older adults with chronicpain.

Objective: To examine the relationship between chronic pain and circumstances of falls including location, activities at the time of falls and self-reported causes of falls in older adults.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Communities in/around Boston, Massachusetts.

Subjects: The MOBILIZE Boston Study enrolled 765 adults aged ≥70 years.

Methods: Pain severity, fall occurrence and fall circumstances were recorded using monthly calendar postcards and fall follow-up interviews during a 4-year follow-up period. Generalised estimating equation models were performed to examine the relation between monthly pain ratings and circumstances of the first fall in the subsequent month.

Results: Compared to fallers without chronic pain, fallers with moderate-to-severe pain had around twice the likelihood of reporting indoor falls (aOR = 1.93, 95%CI: 1.32-2.83), falls in living or dining rooms (aOR = 2.06, 95%CI: 1.27-3.36), and falls due to health problems (aOR = 2.08, 95%CI: 1.16-3.74) or feeling dizzy or faint (aOR = 2.10, 95%CI: 1.08-4.11), but they were less likely to report falls while going down stairs (aOR = 0.48, 95%CI: 0.27-0.87) or falls due to a slip or trip (aOR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.47-0.95) in the subsequent month.

Conclusions: Given the exploratory nature of the study, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Future studies may investigate whether better pain management and tailored fall prevention in older people with chronic pain could lead to fewer falls.