Protective Effects of Social Activity on the Disability Incidence among Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Pain

Objectives

Identifying the factors that contribute to the incidence of disability in older adults and the activities that can be engaged in to reduce the risk of disability is critical to the health of older adults. This study aimed to assess the impact of social activities on the incidence of disability during follow-up examinations in older adults with chronic pain.

Design

A prospective cohort study.

Settings and Participants

The study included 4692 community-dwelling older adults (aged 73.8 ± 5.5 years, male: n = 2043) without disability at baseline.

Methods

Chronic pain and social activity data were assessed at baseline and the incidence of disability was investigated during the follow-up examination after 24 months from baseline.

Results

In total, 1587 (33.8%) participants reported chronic pain at baseline, and 206 (4.4%) reported disability at follow-up examination. The Cox proportional hazards model showed that the chronic pain group had a higher hazard ratio (HR) for disability incidence compared with the group without chronic pain [HR, 1.77; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.33–2.35; P < .001]. High social activity significantly prevented the incidence of disability compared with low social activity in the chronic pain group (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.39–0.84; P = .005). Event participation had a protective effect on disability incidence in the chronic pain group (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.40–0.91; P = .02).

Conclusion and Implications

This study shows that chronic pain at baseline increases the risk of developing disability, whereas high social activity reduces that risk compared with low social activities. These results suggest the important role of social activities regarding the incidence of disability in community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain.