"Age-Related Positivity Effect" in the Relationship Between Pain and Depression Among Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Sex Differences

Mechanisms of pain in aging and age-related conditions: Focus on caregivers

Pain is a complex, subjective experience that can significantly impact quality of life, particularly in aging individuals, by adversely affecting physical and emotional well-being. Whereas acute pain usually serves a protective function, chronic pain is a persistent pathological condition that contributes to functional deficits, cognitive decline, and emotional disturbances in the elderly. Despite substantial progress that has been made in characterizing age-related changes in pain, complete mechanistic details of pain processing mechanisms in the aging patient remain unknown. Pain is particularly under-recognized and under-managed in the elderly, especially among patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (ADRD), and other age-related conditions. Furthermore, difficulties in assessing pain in patients with AD/ADRD and other age-related conditions may contribute to the familial caregiver burden. The purpose of this article is to discuss the mechanisms and risk factors for chronic pain development and persistence, with a particular focus on age-related changes. Our article also highlights the importance of caregivers working with aging chronic pain patients, and emphasizes the urgent need for increased legislative awareness and improved pain management in these populations to substantially alleviate caregiver burden.

Does depression mediate the pain-frailty relationship? Latent variables approach

Frailty is highly prevalent among older adults. This study aims to add evidence to the mediational role of depression in the pain-frailty relationship. Data came from a sample of 2578 Spanish older adults recruited from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). A set of competing structural equation models were performed: (a) independent prediction, (b) full mediation, and (c) partial mediation. Results showed a better fit for the partial mediation model. This model was extended including covariates. The effects of pain and depression remained relevant in the final model, which explained 91% of the frailty variance. These findings support the relevance of the pain-depression dyad in frailty development. Although the pain shows a direct impact on frailty, this association is partially mediated by depression. The interplay of these conditions could be crucial for treatment effectiveness.

Hypothetical interventions on risk factors for depression among middle-aged and older community-dwellers in China: An application of the parametric g-formula in a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Sleep disturbances, frailty, and body pain are widespread in middle-aged and older adults with depression, and have been identified as depression risk factors. However, there is a scarcity of research on the benefits of sleep improvement, frailty amelioration, and pain management on incident depression.

METHODS

A total of 8895 respondents aged above 45 years were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) between 2011 and 2018. The parametric g-formula was used to estimate the 7-year risks of depression under independent hypothetical interventions on nighttime sleep duration (NSD), daytime napping duration (DND), perceived sleep quality (PSQ), frailty, and pain, as well as their various combinations.

RESULTS

The observed depression risk was 41.77 %. The independent intervention on frailty was the most effective in lowering incident depression, with a risk ratio (RR) of 0.61 (95 % CI: 0.57-0.64), followed by PSQ (RR: 0.75, 95 % CI: 0.73-0.78), pain (RR: 0.90, 95 % CI: 0.87-0.91), and NSD (RR: 0.96, 95 % CI: 0.93-0.98). In subgroup analysis, intervention on NSD was more effective in men, PSQ was more effective in middle-aged individuals, and frailty and pain were more effective in older persons. The combined intervention of NSD, PSQ, frailty, and pain lowered the risk the greatest (RR: 0.35, 95 % CI: 0.32-0.37).

LIMITATIONS

Generalizing our results to other populations should be possible if they have the same distribution of effect modifiers and interference patterns because of the calculation principle of the parametric g-formula.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions for sleep disturbances, frailty, and body pain can minimize the risk of depression.