• Josue Cardoso, Brandon Apagueno, Paige Lysne, Lorraine Hoyos, Eric Porges, Joseph L Riley, Roger B Fillingim, Adam J Woods, Ronald Cohen, and Yenisel Cruz-Almeida.
• Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
• Pain Med. 2021 Aug 6; 22 (8): 1776-1783.

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to determine whether specific cognitive domains part of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are significantly lower in community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain compared with older adults without pain and whether these domains would be associated with self-reported pain, disability, and somatosensory function.DesignSecondary data analysis, cross-sectional.SettingUniversity of Florida.SubjectsIndividuals over 60 years old enrolled in the Neuromodulatory Examination of Pain and mobility Across the Lifespan (NEPAL) study were included if they completed the MoCA and other study measures (n = 62). Most participants reported pain on most days during the past three months (63%).MethodsSubjects underwent a health assessment (HAS) and a quantitative sensory testing (QST) session. Health/medical history, cognitive function and self-reported pain measures were administered during the HAS. Mechanical and thermal detection, and thermal pain thresholds were assessed during the QST session.ResultsOlder adults with chronic pain had lower MoCA scores compared with controls on domains of executive function, attention, memory, and language (P < 0.05). The attention and language domains survived adjustments for age, sex, education, depression, and pain duration (P < 0.05). Attention was significantly associated with all pain characteristics including pain intensity and disability, while executive function was associated with mechanical detection (P < 0.05).ConclusionOur results support previous findings that individuals with chronic pain tend to show poorer cognitive functioning compared with pain-free controls in domains of attention and executive function. Our findings also extend these findings to community-dwelling older adults, who are already most vulnerable to age-related cognitive declines.© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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