Suchergebnisse

Relatively little is known about if or how pain and Veteran status are related to frailty. Our objectives were to determine the association between pain and frailty among community-dwelling older men, and examine how combat experience among Veterans might modify this association. The study sample included 3,136 men from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of older Americans (mean age 77, range 68–99). The dependent variable was based on a frailty index that included at least three of the following: 1) weight loss of ≥10%; 2) difficulty lifting 10 pounds; 3) no physical activity or being tired all the time; 4) vision impairment,5) cognitive impairment. Key independent variables were reporting trouble with pain, Veteran status, and combat experience (fired a weapon in combat). Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate the odds of frailty by pain status, and military experience, adjusting for age, race, marital status, education, income, and comorbidities. Twelve percent of the men were frail, one-third reported trouble with pain, 39.3% non-veterans, 6.2% and 54.5% veterans with and without combat experiences respectively. Men reporting pain had twice the odds of frailty as those without pain. In stratified analyses, and non-Veterans showed a similar association between pain and frailty. Veterans trouble with pain increased the odds of frailty by 2.7 times compared to non-Veterans, and there was no association between pain and frailty among Veterans with combat experience. Further research is needed to understand how military experiences are related to frailty in later life.