Nutritional Risk is Associated with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Community-dwelling Older Persons: The PAINEL Study

Abstract

Malnutrition is a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases related to ageing, and it can also contribute to musculoskeletal health. This study investigated whether nutritional risk is associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain in community-dwelling older persons. Nutritional risk was assessed by the DETERMINE Checklist. Chronic musculoskeletal pain was defined as the presence of pain in the past six months that did not disappear for at least 30 consecutive days. Multivariate logistic regression including confounding variables was used for the analysis. The sample was comprised of 383 participants (age 75.6 ± SD 6.1); the majority were at moderate-to-high nutritional risk (69%) and approximately one third presented chronic musculoskeletal pain (30%). The nutritional risk score was independently associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain: adding one unit in the risk score produces an 11% increment in the odds of presenting pain (OR 1.109, 95% CI 1.022-1.204). Individuals classified into moderate- or high-risk categories also had substantially higher odds (∼90%) of presenting chronic musculoskeletal pain when compared to those in the low-risk category, although our findings were only marginally significant. This is the first study to demonstrate the association between nutritional risk and chronic musculoskeletal pain above and beyond the contributed effects from relevant confounders.

Prevalence of excess body weight and underweight among 26 Chinese ethnic minority children and adolescents in 2014: a cross-sectional observational study

“…Our results have public health implications for policy making and targeted interventions among ethnic minorities. On one hand, both excess body weight and underweight in childhood are associated with adulthood chronic diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases [ 38 – 40 ]. The customized implementation of nutrition improvement program and obesity intervention has a potential to reduce the risk of these chronic disease in minority areas.…”

The prevalence and economic burden of pain on middle-aged and elderly Chinese people: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

“…The results showed that nutritional risk score was independently associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain. For each additional unit of risk score, the risk of pain increased by 11% [49].…”

Prevalence of overweight and malnutrition among ethnic minority children and adolescents in China, 1991–2010

“…The increasing trend of obesity, both in adults and children, is directly responsible for the rapid increase in NCDs28. Moreover, malnutrition is a risk factor for NCDs related to ageing29. Thus, by reducing the prevalence of overweight and malnutrition, the burden of chronic disease can also be reduced, and the life expectancy of humans can be extended.…”