title: Persistence and remission of musculoskeletal pain in community-dwelling older adults: results from the cardiovascular health study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize longitudinal patterns of musculoskeletal pain in a community sample of older adults over a 6-year period and to identify factors associated with persistence of pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary analysis of the Cardiovascular Health Study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-based cohort drawn from four U.S. counties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five thousand ninety-three men and women aged 65 and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a 6-year period, pain was assessed each year using a single question about the presence of pain in any bones or joints during the last year. If affirmative, participants were queried about pain in seven locations (hands, shoulders, neck, back, hips, knees, feet). Participants were categorized according to the percentage of time that pain was present and according to the intermittent or chronic pattern of pain. Factors associated with persistent pain during five remaining years of the study were identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over 6 years, 32% of participants reported pain for three or more consecutive years, and 32% reported pain intermittently. Of those who reported pain the first year, 54% were pain free at least once during the follow-up period. Most of the pain at specific body locations was intermittent. Factors associated with remission of pain over 5 years included older age, male sex, better self-rated health, not being obese, taking fewer medications, and having fewer depressive symptoms. Approximately half of those with pain reported fewer pain locations the following year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Musculoskeletal pain in older adults, despite high prevalence, is often intermittent. The findings refute the notion that pain is an inevitable, unremitting, or progressive consequence of aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. sthielke@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Thielke
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whitson
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Diehr
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Hare
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.forename: Sarwat I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.forename: Neil A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Zakai
authors.forename: Dae
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Nishant
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sekaran
authors.forename: Joanna E M
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sale
authors.forename: Alice M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012074:Remission Induction; D012111:Residence Characteristics