Effects of a Mind-Body Program for Chronic Pain in Older versus Younger Adults

Abstract

Lisa R LaRowe,1,2 Jafar Bakhshaie,3,4 Ana-Maria Vranceanu,3,4 Jonathan Greenberg3,4 1Mongan Institute Center for Aging and Serious Illness, Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 4Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USACorrespondence: Ana-Maria Vranceanu, Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA, Email [email protected]: Improving physical function is key to decreasing the burden of chronic pain across the lifespan. Although mind-body interventions show promise in increasing physical function in chronic pain, very little is known about whether older and younger adults derive similar benefit. Indeed, older adults experience higher rates of chronic pain and greater impacts of pain on physical function compared to younger adults. Therefore, additional work is needed to determine the extent of benefit older versus younger adults receive from a mind-body intervention. Here, we examined age differences in the effects of two mind-body and walking programs on pain and multimodal physical function.Participants and Methods: Participants were 82 individuals with heterogenous chronic musculoskeletal pain (66% female, 57% aged ≥ 50 years) who participated in a feasibility randomized controlled trial of two mind-body interventions. They completed self-reported (WHODAS 2.0), performance-based (6-minute walk test), and objective (accelerometer-measured step count) measures of physical function, as well as self-report measures of pain intensity, before and after the intervention.Results: Results indicated that adults aged ≥ 50 (vs adults aged < 50) demonstrated greater improvements in performance-based physical function (6-minute walk test) and reductions in pain during activity. No age differences in the effects of the intervention on self-reported or objectively measured physical function were observed.Conclusion: Collectively, these findings suggest that older adults can achieve equivalent or greater benefits from mind-body programs for chronic pain, despite facing unique challenges to chronic pain management (eg, multimorbidity, greater sedentary behavior).Keywords: older adults, physical function, pain, disability, mindfulness

Keywords

• older adults
• physical function
• pain
• disability
• mindfulness