Joint pain and falls among women with breast cancer on aromatase inhibitors

Purpose Arthralgia is common among women with breast cancer on adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy. Pain is associated with falls in the general population; however, little is known about the relationship between arthralgia and falls among AI users. Our objective was to determine whether joint...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Supportive care in cancer 2019-06, Vol.27 (6), p.2195-2202
Main Authors: Basal, Coby, Vertosick, Emily, Gillis, Theresa A., Li, Qing, Bao, Ting, Vickers, Andrew, Mao, Jun J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data
Adjuvant treatment
Aged
Aromatase Inhibitors - adverse effects
Arthralgia
Arthralgia - chemically induced
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - complications
Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Cancer
Cohort Studies
Estrogen
Falls
Falls (Accidents)
Female
Health care industry
Health risk assessment
Humans
Inhibitor drugs
Joints
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Nursing
Nursing Research
Oncology
Oncology, Experimental
Original Article
Pain
Pain Medicine
Postmenopausal women
Prevention
Prospective Studies
Quantitative analysis
Rehabilitation Medicine
Risk factors
Womens health
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Summary:Purpose Arthralgia is common among women with breast cancer on adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy. Pain is associated with falls in the general population; however, little is known about the relationship between arthralgia and falls among AI users. Our objective was to determine whether joint pain severity and interference predict future falls. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women with stage I-III estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer who were prescribed a third-generation AI. Arthralgia symptoms were measured at baseline using a modified version of the Brief Pain Inventory. Fall occurrence was obtained at 24-month follow-up. Results Among 667 participants (median age 63 years, interquartile range 57–69 years), 232 (35%, 95% CI 31 to 39%) reported falls 12–24 months after baseline. Among women who fell, 65 (28%) reported seeking medical assistance. After controlling for multiple fall risk factors, we found significant non-linear associations between baseline joint pain severity and risk of falls ( p  = 0.001). Women with joint pain severity scores ≥ 4 had a more than twofold increase in fall risk compared to those without pain (41% vs. 20%). We observed a similar relationship for pain interference and fall risk ( p  
ISSN:0941-4355
1433-7339
1433-7339
DOI:10.1007/s00520-018-4495-4