Persistent moderate to severe pain and long‐term cognitive decline

Abstract

Background

The longitudinal association between persistent moderate to severe pain and subsequent long-term cognitive decline remains inconclusive.

Methods

Study population came from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing prospective and nationally representative cohort of community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years in England. At waves 1 (2002/2003) and 2 (2004/2005) of the study, pain severity was measured based on pain intensity scores ranged from 0 to 10. We defined moderate to severe pain as pain intensity scores ≥5 points. Persistent moderate to severe pain was defined as participants reported moderate to severe pain at both waves 1 and 2. Standardized global cognitive Z scores derived from verbal memory, temporal orientation, and semantic fluency were used as the primary outcome.

Results

6869 individuals (3896 women; mean age: 63.9±9.5 years) who have accepted twice measurements of pain at waves 1 and 2 (baseline), and at least 1 reassessment of cognitive function at waves 3 (2006/2007) to 8 (2016/2017), were included in this study. Each 5-points increase in the sum of pain intensity scores was associated with a faster rate of –0.009 (95% CI: –0.013 to –0.006, P<0.001) in global cognitive Z scores. Compared with no pain group, persistent moderate to severe pain group was associated with a significantly faster decline rate of –0.031 SD/year (95% CI: –0.043 to –0.018), in global cognitive Z scores. The relationships of persistent moderate to severe pain with verbal memory, temporal orientation, and semantic fluency were similar.

Conclusion

Cognitive function should be monitored in individuals with persistent moderate to severe pain.

from Wiley: European Journal of Pain: Table of Contents https://ift.tt/2U28NHC
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