title: Pain and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults Living in the Community.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pain related to many age-related chronic conditions is a burdensome problem in elderly adults and may also interfere with cognitive functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine the cross-sectional relationship between measures of pain severity and pain interference and cognitive performance in community-living older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 765 participants in the Maintenance of Balance Independent Living Intellect and Zest (MOBILIZE) Boston Study, a population-based study of persons aged 70 and older. Global pain severity and interference were measured using the Brief Pain Inventory subscales. The neuropsychological battery included measures of attentional capacity (Trail Making Test A, WORLD Test), executive function (Trail Making Test B and Delta, Clock-in-a-Box, Letter Fluency), memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test), and a global composite measure of cognitive function. Multivariable linear regression models were used to analyze the relationship between pain and cognitive functioning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elderly adults with more severe pain or more pain interference had poorer performance on memory tests and executive functioning compared to elders with none or less pain. Pain interference was also associated with impaired attentional capacity. Additional adjustment for chronic conditions, behaviors, and psychiatric medication resulted in attenuation of many of the observed associations. However, the association between pain interference and general cognitive function persisted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings point to the need for further research to understand how chronic pain may contribute to decline in cognitive function and to determine strategies that may help in preventing or managing these potential consequences of pain on cognitive function in older adults.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston.
authors.forename: Guusje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Leeuw
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Laura H P
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Eggermont
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, Geriatric, Research, Education and Clinical Center, Brockton/West Roxbury Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Milberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Alden L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Gait and Neurodynamics, Movement Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel. Department of Physical Therapy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hausdorff
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts. New England Geriatric, Research, Education and Clinical Center, Boston Veterans Administration Health System, Massachusetts. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jonathan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bean
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston. Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. Suzanne.leveille@umb.edu.
authors.forename: Suzanne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Leveille
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Aging; Cognitive function; Epidemiology; Neuropsychology.; Pain