Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30049353›Full record

ArticleMaturitas2018

Pain is not associated with cognitive decline in older adults: A four-year longitudinal study.

Nicola Veronese, Ai Koyanagi, Marco Solmi, Trevor Thompson, Stefania Maggi, Patricia Schofield, Christoph Mueller, Catharine R Gale, Cyrus Cooper, Brendon Stubbs

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Maturitas, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.6field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Exploring the relationship between pain, cognition, and chronic conditions: insights from the HAALSI study in rural South Africa.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
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  19. Pain Increases the Risk for Sarcopenia in Community-Dwelling Adults: Results From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023
    Article
  20. Increasing Pain Interference Is Associated With Cognitive Decline Over Four Years Among Older Puerto Rican Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.

Nicola VeroneseNational Research Council, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy; Geriatrics Unit, Department of OrthoGeriatrics, Rehabilitation and Stabilization, Frailty Area, Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy. Electronic address: ilmannato@gmail.com.
Ai KoyanagiParc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu/CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain.
Marco SolmiDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Trevor ThompsonFaculty of Education and Health, University of Greenwich, London, SE9 2UG, UK.
Stefania MaggiNational Research Council, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy.
Patricia SchofieldSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Christoph MuellerNational Institute for Health Research, Nutrition Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK.
Catharine R GaleMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Cyrus CooperMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; Oxford NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, University of Oxford, Windmill Road, Oxford, UK; National Institute for Health Research, Nutrition Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Brendon StubbsInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, UK; Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK.
King's College London · GBEnte Ospedaliero Ospedali Galliera · ITMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit · GBNeuroscience Institute · ITParc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu · ESSouthampton General Hospital · GBSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust · GBUniversity of Greenwich · GBUniversity of Padua · IT

Funding

Project-001R01AG017644 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF LONDON INST OF NEUROLOGY · PI Andrew Steptoe · 2000 to 2026
$56.2M
Department of Health ICA-CL-2017-03-001Medical Research Council G0400491Medical Research Council MC_U147585819Medical Research Council MC_U147585824Medical Research Council MC_U147585827Medical Research Council MC_UP_A620_1014Medical Research Council MC_UU_12011/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_12011/2Medical Research Council MR/K026992/1NIA NIH HHS R01 AG017644Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The finding of a potential association between pain and cognitive decline is limited to a few cross-sectional studies with relatively samples. We therefore aimed to investigate whether the presence and severity of pain at baseline could predict a decline in cognitive function over four years of follow-up in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline, participants with no dementia who were "often troubled by pain" were considered to have pain. Pain severity was categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Cognitive function was explored through verbal fluency (assessed by asking how many different animals the participants could name in 60 s), memory (sum of immediate and delayed verbal memory) and processing speed (number of target letters correctly identified on the letter cancellation task). Multivariable linear regression was used (exposure: pain; outcomes: cognitive change between follow-up and baseline, based on standardized residuals). Altogether, 6515 community-dwelling people with a mean age of 65 years (women = 57.3%) were included. Over a 4-year follow-up, after adjusting for 26 potential confounders, no association between pain (yes vs. no) and verbal fluency (beta = 0.02; 95%CI: -0.15 to 0.18), memory (0.05; 95%CI: -0.28 to 0.38), or processing speed (0.55; 95%CI: -18.4 to 2.93) at follow-up was found. Only severe pain was associated with greater decline in memory (-0.36; 95%CI: -0.68 to -0.04). In conclusion, in older people, pain was not associated with worsening in cognition, except for severe pain, which was marginally associated with worsening in memory tests. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm or refute our findings.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overCognitive DysfunctionDementiaFemaleHumansIndependent LivingLinear ModelsLongitudinal StudiesMaleMemoryMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsPainCognitive declineElderlyMemoryPain

Identifiers

PMID30049353
PMCPMC6075692
OpenAlexW2809985955

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.