Pain and risk of falls in middle-aged and older men and women
Full reference: Ogliari G, Ryg J, Andersen-Ranberg K, Scheel-Hincke LL, Collins JT, Cowley A, Di Lorito C, Booth V, Smit RAJ, Akyea RK, Qureshi N, Walsh DA, Harwood RH, Masud T. Association between pain intensity and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling adults: longitudinal findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Eur Geriatr Med. 2023 Jul 14. doi: 10.1007/s41999-023-00835-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37450107.
Falls are very common, especially in women and older people, and can lead to serious injuries such as broken bones. We can prevent falls by addressing the factors that lead to falls. We wanted to know if pain is one of these factors.
We analysed data from 40,636 participants in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Every two years, SHARE surveys men and women, aged 50 years or older, from European countries and Israel. It focusses on health and ageing. We looked at participants who had a first interview in 2013 (baseline) and a second interview in 2015 (follow-up).
During the first interview, they were asked about their history of disease, medication use and life-style. They were also asked whether they were experiencing “no pain”, “mild pain”, “moderate pain” or “severe pain”. They were also asked which part of the body they felt pain (for example, their back, hips or knees). During the second interview, they were asked whether they had had any falls in the previous six months.
The average age of our participants was 66 years and half were women. We found that participants with moderate and severe pain at baseline were more likely than those without pain to report having fallen two years later – even when accounting for sex, age and many other risk factors for falls. Moreover, participants with pain in two or more parts of the body at baseline were more likely than those with pain at only one site to report having fallen two years later. Pain was a stronger risk factor for falls among middle-aged than older participants.
Our study showed that moderate to severe pain is a risk factor for falls. Pain may be a more important risk factor for falls in middle-aged people than older people because other factors may be more important in older people. We cannot prove that treating pain prevents falls. However, we should think of pain as a risk factor for falls and ask about it when assessing a person’s risk of falls.