BOSTON, Nov 27, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Two out of three older adults
experience pain that may contribute to an increased risk of falls in those age
70 and older, U.S. researchers said.
Lead author Suzanne Leveille -- who conducted the research while at Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center and is currently at the University of Massachusetts
Boston -- used data gathered as part of Maintenance of Balance, Independent
Living, Intellect and Zest in the Elderly in Boston. The MOBILIZE Boston study
at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife was intended to gain a
better understanding of what causes falls in older adults.
From September 2005 to January 2008, 749 adults age 70 and older were
interviewed about their health and pain. They also underwent a physical
assessment and were tracked for 18 months.
"At the beginning of the study, 40 percent of the participants reported
experiencing chronic pain in more than one joint area and 24 percent reported
chronic pain in a single joint," Leveille said. "During the 18-month study
period, the 749 participants reported a total of 1,029 falls, with more than
half the participants falling at least once during this period."
The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association,
revealed that compared with study participants who reported no pain, the
participants who experienced chronic pain in two or more joints had a 50 percent
greater risk of falling.
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