Elder abuse not associated with risk of chronic pain

(HealthDay)—Elder abuse and neglect (EAN) is not tied to the risk of chronic pain, according to a study published online March 30 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Raudah M. Yunus, M.P.H., from University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and colleagues assessed the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between EAN and chronic pain in 1,189 community-dwelling, rural Malaysians (aged ≥60 years).

The researchers found that the prevalence of chronic pain was 20.4 percent. Eight factors were significantly associated with chronic pain, including age, education, income, comorbidities, self-rated health, depression, gait speed, and EAN. Abused elderly adults were more likely to have chronic pain (odds ratio, 1.52; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 2.27), although the significance decreased in longitudinal analyses (risk ratio, 1.14; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.60).

"Our findings indicate no temporal relationship between EAN and chronic pain but indicated cross-sectional associations between the two," the authors write. "This might indicate that, although EAN does not lead to chronic pain, individuals with greater physical limitations are more vulnerable to abuse."

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