Determinants of health-related quality of life in older people with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional study

• Published in: BMC geriatrics 2024-01, Vol.24 (1), p.119-8, Article 119
• Main Authors: Fong, Hugo Pak-Yiu, Choi, Shirley Yue-Kwan, Leung, Maria Kwan-Wa, Lo, Hermione Hin-Man, Wang, Bo, Wong, Samuel Yeung-Shan, Sit, Regina Wing-Shan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; Body mass index; Chronic illnesses; Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain; Chronic pain; Chronic Pain - diagnosis; Chronic Pain - epidemiology; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease; East Asian People; Female; Generalized anxiety disorder; Gerontology; Health aspects; Health Status; Health surveys; Health-related quality of life; Humans; Information management; Informed consent; Knee; Male; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal Pain - diagnosis; Musculoskeletal Pain - epidemiology; Older people; Patients; Primary care; Psychological aspects; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Regression analysis; Resource allocation; Social networks; Software; Surveys and Questionnaires; Variables; Welfare
• ISSN: 1471-2318; 1471-2318
• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-04669-z

This study aimed to identify the significant physical, psychological, and social determinants associated with EuroQuol-5D (EQ-5D) among Chinese older people with chronic musculoskeletal pain, and to evaluate how these determinants affected the five dimensions of EQ-5D. This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected through a cohort involving 946 community-dwelling older people aged ≥ 60 with chronic musculoskeletal pain in Hong Kong. Selected independent variables were categorized into physical, psychological, and social domains. Physical variables included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), pain severity score, number of pain regions, the most painful site, and the number of comorbidities. Psychological variables included depression level measured using the 9-question Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and anxiety level measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7). Social variables included living, marital, and social welfare recipient's status. The dependent variables comprised the index scores and the five dimensions of the EQ-5D descriptive system. Ordinal least squares (OLS) model and logistic regression model were used for data analysis. The mean age of the participants was 67.1 (SD = 5.1), with 77.6% being female. Higher pain severity scores (beta (β) coefficient =-0.044, P