A 9-Year Follow-Up of Women and Men Reporting Pain: Results from The Swedish National Study Of Aging And Care - Blekinge

Background and aim: Pain is common in older adults, but its relationship with ageing is unclear. The aim was toinvestigate pain among adults aged 72 years and older by means of a population-based sample followed for aperiod of nine years.Methods: The Swedish National study on Aging and Care (SNAC) is conducted at four research centres. AtSNAC-Blekinge (B), 609 (60.6%) women and 396 (39.4%) men were recruited and included from the baselinesample (n=1,005). Re-examination was carried out on 328 participants, 204 (62.2%) women and 124 (37.8%) men.Pearson Chi-Square and T-test were used to compare groups. Locus of Control (LOC) was measured using a shortversion of the original health LOC scale. Relief from pain was analysed by logistic regression.Results: At the follow-up investigation, 69/204 (33.8%) women reported pain. Of the women who reported pain atbaseline, 82/136 (60.3%) stated that they were pain free. Fewer women reported pain with increasing age, PearsonChi-Square 7.980, p<0.02.At the follow-up investigation, 27/124 (21.8%) men reported pain. Of the men reporting pain at baseline, 44/58(75.9%) stated that they were pain free. Low external locus of control (eLOC) were associated with relief from pain(OR 2.18, CI 1.13-4.22), p<0.02. Mean age differences between the groups pain/no pain was found, p<0.001.Conclusions: The number of women reporting pain decreased with increasing age. Pain may contribute topremature death. Relief from pain was higher for men compared to women, and low eLOC may be a contributingfactor.