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Back Pain Linked to Falls Among Elderly Men

By Kristin Della Volpe

Two new studies on back pain among elderly men reveal five distinct patterns of back pain and an increased risk for falls. The findings are based on data from more than 5,600 men age 65 and older who enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study.

In the first study, led by Kathleen F. Holton PhD, MPH, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, participants were surveyed every 4 months for 2 years on whether they had any back pain as well as the number of days with severe pain. The data were used to calculate a severity score, and these scores were categorized into five groups.1

  • Never pain (39%)
  • Intermittent pain (36%): The majority of this group (73%) had low frequency of pain and none had high severity.
  • Always pain (14%): This group was divided evenly between low and high severity of pain.
  • Resolved pain (6%): Only 1% of this group had high severity of pain.
  • New persistent pain (5%): Few patients (10%) had high severity pain.

Of the 526 men with chronic severe pain, the majority (67%) were in the always pain group, 20% had intermittent pain, and 13% had new persistent pain.

In the second study, low back pain (LBP) was linked to an increased risk for falls among elderly men with a relative risk for any fall of 1.3 with mild or moderate LBP and of 1.6 with severe LBP. These ratios were relatively unchanged when the multivariable assessment was further adjusted for physical function and mobility limitations, suggesting that these variables “do not completely explain the association of fall risk with LBP among elderly men,” according to research led by Lynn Marshall, ScD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University.2

References

  1. Holton K, Deyo R, Yoo J, Fink H, Kado D, Barrett-Connor E et al. The course of back pain among older community dwelling men: the MrOS study. Pain. 2011. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2011.02.038.
  2. Marshall L, Holton K, Haney E, Carlson N, Fink H, Leung P et al. Low back pain, physical function and fall risk among elderly men: the MrOS study. Pain. 2011. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2011.02.037.
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