Journal of Pain Research (Mar 2023)

The Relationship Between Pain Intensity and Pain-Related Activity Patterns in Older Adults with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Mediating Roles of Pain Resilience and Pain Catastrophizing

  • Gong Y,
  • Wang Y,
  • Wu W,
  • Li L,
  • Li Y,
  • Song J,
  • Jiang L,
  • Hu S,
  • Yang J,
  • Wang A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 797 – 807

Abstract

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Yan Gong,1 Yonghua Wang,2 Wei Wu,3 Ling Li,2 Yunming Li,4 Jie Song,2 Lingli Jiang,5 Shibei Hu,1 Juan Yang,1 Aihua Wang1 1School of Nursing, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Nursing, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Information, Medical Support Center, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Neurosurgery, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yonghua Wang, Department of Nursing, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, No. 270 Tianhui Road, Rongdu Avenue, Chengdu, 610083, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-18180720869, Email [email protected]: To explore the relationship between pain intensity, pain resilience, pain catastrophizing, and pain-related activity patterns in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP).Patients and Methods: A total of 220 elderly Chinese with chronic musculoskeletal pain were recruited from a tertiary general hospital. Participants completed several measures including a demographic questionnaire, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Pain Resilience Scale (PRS), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain (POAM-P). Moreover, Process version 3.5 plug-in SPSS26 was used to test the mediation effect between variables.Results: The scores of POAM-P in older adults with CMP from high to low were: avoidance (27.39 ± 8.10), pacing (24.25 ± 9.48), and overdoing (16.65 ± 10.95). Mediation analysis revealed that pain resilience and pain catastrophizing mediated the relationship between pain intensity and pain-related activity patterns (avoidance and pacing) in older adults with CMP.Conclusion: These results provide evidence for the role of pain resilience and pain catastrophizing in the relationship between pain intensity and pain-related activity patterns. Interventions targeting these factors should be included in activity management programs for elderly CMP patients. It may be possible to reduce the negative impact of pain intensity on activity patterns by improving pain resilience and reducing pain catastrophizing.Keywords: older adults, chronic musculoskeletal pain, avoidance, pacing, overdoing

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