Pain and self-rated health in older people with and without type 2 diabetes

Pain and diabetes are related to the decreased self-rated health. The aim of this population-based study was to analyze how pain affects self-rated health among people aged 65 or older with and without type 2 diabetes.

Population-based cross-sectional cohort study.

Inner Savo district, Finland.

Home-dwelling people 65 and older with diabetes, and age- and sex-matched control patients without diabetes were identified from electronic patient records in primary care. Questionnaires were sent home to 514 individuals with type 2 diabetes and 890 individuals without diabetes.

The study participants rated their health with the Likert-type scale and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). According to experienced pain, three groups were formed: (1) subjects without pain or with pain once a week at most, (2) pain more often than once a week, and (3) daily or continuous pain.

When adjusted for propensity score, the decreased proportion of people with good self-rated health was associated with frequent pain (p < 0.001). No interaction between diabetes and pain was found (p = 0.55). Respectively, the decreasing ratings of self-rated health in VAS was associated with frequent pain (p < 0.001) without interaction (p = 0.14). Daily pain was associated similarly with poor self-rated health in people with and without diabetes.

Frequent pain independently and without interaction associated with self-rated health in older adults. Frequent pain may have more significant impact on self-rated health than diabetes. Preventing and treating frequent pain in older people with and without diabetes may have significant potential in retaining and improving self-rated health.