ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2020
Persistent, Consistent, and Extensive: The Trend of Increasing Pain Prevalence in Older Americans.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed.
- Acceptability and Effects of Commercially Available Activity Trackers for Chronic Pain Management Among Older African American Adults.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2020Trial
- Effects ofPain reports · 2026Article
- Diverging trends in health at older ages in England, 2004-2024: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Do Must-Access Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) Affect Pain and Impairment Outcomes in Older Adults?Medical care research and review : MCRR · 2026Article
- Family emotional climate, depressive symptoms, and pain prevalence: Testing mediation pathways among midlife and older Black Americans.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2026Article
- Dual Experience and Management of Pain in Older Adults and Their Caregivers.Clinics in geriatric medicine · 2026Review
- International trends and social disparities in pain of adults aged 50 years and older in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas: a longitudinal population-based study.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2026Article
- Age-specific trends in limitations of daily activities in American adults aged 50-84 by race and ethnicity, 2000-2018.PloS one · 2026Article
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- A Painful Reality Check? Examining the Accuracy of Subjective Survival Probabilities by Pain Interference and Depression Status.Journal of aging and health · 2026Article
- Chronic pain prevalence and trends in urban, suburban, and rural areas among American adults aged 55+, 1998-2022.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Pain phenotype trajectories and links to family relationship quality among black older adults.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- Where Does It Hurt? A 4-S Model of Pain Onset and Recovery Across Body Sites Among Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Practical Challenges in the Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Reconfiguring Pain Interpretation Within a Social Model of Health Using a Simplified Version of Wilber's All Quadrant All Levels Framework: An Integral Vision.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Trajectories of episodic memory in midlife: Historical change from a cross-country perspective.Psychology and aging · 2025Article
- Refining chronic pain phenotypes: A comparative analysis of sociodemographic and disease-related determinants using electronic health records.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- A conceptual model for assessing the risk of unidentified pain.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- An integral vision of pain and its persistence: a whole-person, whole-system, salutogenic perspective.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesAssess trends in pain prevalence from 1992 to 2014 among older U.S. adults and by major population subgroups, and test whether the trends can be explained by changes in population composition.
methodsHealth and Retirement Study data include information on any pain, pain intensity, and limitations in usual activities due to pain. Average annual percent change in prevalence is calculated for any and for 2 levels of pain-mild/moderate and nonlimiting and severe and/or limiting-across demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and for those with and without specific chronic conditions. Generalized linear latent and mixed models examine trends adjusting for covariates.
resultsLinear and extensive increases in pain prevalence occurred across the total population and subgroups. The average annual percent increase was in the 2%-3% range depending upon age and sex. Increases were consistent across subgroups, persistent over time, and not due to changes in population composition. Without increases in educational attainment over time, pain prevalence increases would be even higher. DISCUSSION: The increases in pain prevalence among older Americans are alarming and potentially of epidemic proportions. Population-health research must monitor and understand these worrisome trends.
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