Prevalence and Correlates of Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

Frailty is a frequent health condition in older adults of decreased functional reserve that leads to vulnerability to internal and external stressors. It has been associated with chronic pain, which is a common, costly and incapacitating condition in older adults.

To describe frailty status in a sample of community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain attending a primary health care centre.

Cross-sectional investigation.

Adults aged 65 years or older with chronic pain.

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Frailty Instrument (SHARE-FI) was used to assess frailty status and a visual analogue scale to assess pain intensity. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed.

Among 154 participants recruited, 20.1% were frail, 38.3% pre-frail and 41.6% robust. Women were more likely to be classified as frail or pre-frail (OR: 4.62, 95% CI: 2.23-9.59), as well as participants aged 75 years or older (OR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.74-6.68) and participants reporting moderate and severe pain (OR: 4.20, 95% CI: 2.10-8.40). These results remained significant after adjustment.

There is an association between frailty status and other variables such as older age, female gender and higher pain intensity.