ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2017
Associations of Musculoskeletal Pain With Mobility in Older Adults: Potential Cerebral Mechanisms.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy and safety of musculoskeletal manipulations in elderly population with musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Mobility Profiles of Residents Living With Dementia in Canadian Long-Term-Care Homes: A Cross-Sectional Study.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations of chronic pain and sleep quality with frailty progression in community-dwelling older adults.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Chronic neck pain is associated with altered gait performance compared to healthy controls: Cross-sectional observations.Gait & posture · 2026Observational
- Relationship of strength training lifetime exposure with functional outcomes and mobility over 4 years: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Article
- Chronic pain and subjective memory problems are dynamic risk factors for functional decline: An ACTIVE longitudinal study.Experimental gerontology · 2025Article
- The primary hospitals should take gait speed as a routine test for elderly patients.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- [Advances of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for treatment of musculoskeletal disorders in the past decade].Nan fang yi ke da xue xue bao = Journal of Southern Medical University · 2025Review
- Effect modification by dietary patterns in the relationship between slow gait and incident depressive symptoms: a 6-year cohort study of older Japanese adults (NISSIN Project).Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Chronic Pain Among a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Adults in the United States.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Associated Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Older Patients Treated at Walailak University Physical Therapy Clinic in Thailand: A Retrospective Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Considerations beyond spine pain: do different co-occurring lower body joint pains differentially influence physical function and quality of life ratings?BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Patients' strategies for numeric pain assessment: a qualitative interview study of individuals with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.Disability and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Older Adults' Frequency of Going Outside during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations with Physical Distancing, Health Status, and Fall Risk Factors.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2023Article
- Epigenetic aging, knee pain and physical performance in community-dwelling middle-to-older age adults.Experimental gerontology · 2022Article
- Gait subgroups among older adults with chronic pain differ in cerebellum and basal ganglia gray matter volumes.Experimental gerontology · 2022Article
- Clinical vitamin D levels are associated with insular volume and inferior temporal gyrus white matter surface area in community-dwelling individuals with knee pain.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Pain differences in neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging measures among community-dwelling older adults.Experimental gerontology · 2021Article
- Associations Between Potentially Modifiable and Nonmodifiable Risk Factors and Gait Speed in Middle- and Older-Aged Adults: Results From the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMusculoskeletal pain is highly prevalent and limits mobility in older adults. A potential mechanism by which pain affects mobility could be through its negative impact on the brain. We examined whether structural integrity of cerebral gray and white matter (WM) mediated the relationship between pain and mobility in community-dwelling older adults.
methodsMusculoskeletal pain, gait speed, and neuroimaging data were obtained concurrently from the Health ABC study (mean age = 83/56% female, n = 212). Microstructural gray matter integrity was measured by mean diffusivity (MD), WM microstructure and macrostructure were measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) and WM hyperintensities (WMH), respectively. Regression models were adjusted for gray matter atrophy, age, gender, medication use, and obesity. Bootstrapped mediation methods were used (1,000 bootstrapped samples, 95% confidence intervals).
resultsThe associations of musculoskeletal pain with WMH (β = .19, p < .05) and FA (β = -.18, p < .05) were robust to adjustment for gender, medication use, age, body mass index (BMI), and brain atrophy. Participants who experienced both knee and back pain had a significantly slower gait speed (~0.11 m/s) than those without knee or back pain (p < .05) independent of gender, medication, age, and BMI. WMH and FA significantly mediated the pain-gait speed relationship. Associations between pain and MD were not significant, and MD did not modify the association between pain and gait speed.
conclusionsCerebral WM integrity may contribute to the detrimental effects of musculoskeletal pain on mobility, although pre-existing WM integrity may also simultaneously amplify pain and decrease mobility. Future studies are needed to further understand whether successful pain management may significantly improve both brain health and mobility.
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