Chronic Pain in the Lower Extremities and Low Back is Associated With Recurrent Falls in Community-Dwelling Japanese People Aged 40-74 Years.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the longitudinal association between chronic pain in the lower extremities and low back and the odds of recurrent falls in middle-aged and older people.

DESIGN

A cohort study.

SETTING

Communities in Japan.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 7540 community-dwelling volunteers aged 40-74 years (N=7540). The baseline survey was a self-administered questionnaire conducted between 2011-2013. Predictors were presence of chronic pain in the knee, foot or ankle, and low back, with the degree of pain categorized as none, very mild/mild, moderate, or severe/very severe. Covariates in the multivariate model of chronic pain in a site were demographics, body mass index, physical activity level, disease history, and chronic pain in the other 2 sites. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs).

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Recurrent falls in the year before the 5-year follow-up survey.

RESULTS

Mean participant age was 60.2 years. Higher degrees of chronic pain were associated with higher odds of recurrent falls for the knee (P=.0002) with a higher OR of 1.48 (95% CI: 1.11-1.97), for the foot or ankle (P=.0001) with a higher OR of 1.97 (95% CI: 1.36-2.86), and for the low back (P=.0470) with a higher OR of 1.45 (95% CI: 1.09-1.91) in those with any degree of pain relative to those without pain. Higher degrees of chronic knee pain were associated with higher odds of recurrent falls in women (P=.0005), but not in men (P=.0813). Meanwhile, higher degrees of chronic low back pain were associated with the odds of recurrent falls in men (P=.0065), but not in women (P=.8735).

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic pain in the knee, foot or ankle, and lower back was independently and dose-dependently associated with a higher risk of recurrent falls. A marked sex-dependent difference was also noted in the association.