Chronic pain may mean more falls for older people

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Falls can be devastating for the elderly, leading to joint replacements, pain and sometimes death. A new study finds that having chronic pain may lead to more falls in older people.

Participants in the study included 749 men and women age 70 and older who were part of the Maintenance of Balance, Independent Living, Intellect and Zest in the Elderly study in Boston. They were given a health assessment by a nurse and were asked to record any falls they had during an 18-month period.

At the beginning of the study, 40% of the men and women said they had chronic pain in more than one joint, and 24% said they had chronic pain in one joint. During the study period, 1,029 falls were logged, and more than half the participants reported they fell at least once.

However, researchers found that those who said they had pain in more than one joint had a 50% greater chance of falling than those who had no pain.

They also discovered a link between pain severity and the risk of falls in the short-term. Those who rated their pain as severe or very severe for a month had a 77% increased chance of falling in the following month, compared with those who had no pain.

In the study, the authors wrote, ‘The findings provide evidence suggesting that the common complaint of the aches and pains of old age is related to a greater hazard than previously thought. Daily discomfort may accompany not only difficulties in performing daily activities but equally as important may be a risk for falls and possibly fall-related injuries in the older population.’

The study appears in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

-- Jeannine Stein