Prevalence and correlates of pain interference in older adults: Why treating the whole body and mind is necessary

SummaryOur study presents pain-related interference rates in a sample of community-dwelling, older adults and determines factors associated with these restrictions. Participants were 9506 respondents to the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study (66.8% female and 33.2% male; average age = 62.3 years). In this sample, 48.2% reported no pain-related interference, whereas 37.7% reported moderate and 14.1% reported severe interference. As hypothesized, older age, female gender, lower education, financial strain, traumatic experiences, worse health, increased body mass index, poor sleep, and depressive symptoms all were associated with higher pain interference ratings (ordered logistic regression/three-level pain criterion; odds ratios p < 0.05). Our findings are similar to those from younger adults, and they suggest enduring effects of trauma on health and reveal the complexity of chronic pain in community-dwelling, older adults.