• Hongting Ning, Yinan Zhao, Lulu Liao, Huijing Chen, Zirong Tao, Xujiao Chen, and Hui Feng.
• Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2022 Jun 1; 23 (3): 338-344.

AimsThe objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of frailty and pain among older adults with physical functional limitations in China. We also assessed the impact of pain and psychosocial determinants on frailty among this vulnerable population.DesignThis study was a cross-sectional study.Setting And ParticipantsTotally, 2,323 Chinese elders with physical functional limitation were enrolled.MethodsPhysical functioning was assessed by the Barthel Index, participants who reported "often troubled with pain" were further asked about the intensity of their pain using a 1-10 numeric rating scale, and frailty was assessed by the Assessment of frailty FRAIL scale. The impact of pain and psychosocial factors on frailty was assessed by multivariable binary logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of frailty and pain were 30.9% and 46.1%, respectively. Compared with subjects who reported no pain, those who reported mild (odds ratio [OR] = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21-2.31), moderate (OR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.53-2.82), or severe pain (OR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.56-3.40) tended to be more vulnerable to frailty. Furthermore, compared with participants with positive psychosocial determinants, those with negative psychosocial determinants seemed more likely to be frail.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the incidence of pain, negative psychosocial status, and frailty were prevalent, and the presence of pain and negative psychosocial factors increased the risk of frailty among older adults with physical functional limitation.Copyright © 2021 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

13 keywords...

hide…