Pain and Disablement

Does Pain Explain Trends in Disability? An Analysis of Middle-Aged and Older U.S. Adults, 2002-2018

OBJECTIVES

This article investigates the role of pain in disability trends in the United States, within the context of recent unfavorable disability trends and the concurrent rise in pain.

METHODS

We conducted a 2-part analysis using National Health Interview Survey data from 2002 to 2018 for U.S. adults aged 45-84. First, we assessed how changes in the prevalence of 5 site-specific types of pain (headaches/migraines, joint, low back, neck, and facial/jaw pain) associated with disability trends. Second, we used self-reported causes of disability and examined whether there has been a change in the proportion of individuals who attribute their disability to 1 of 5 chronic or acute painful conditions.

RESULTS

The 5 site-specific types of pain, individually and collectively, were significantly associated with increases in disability. If site-specific chronic pain had not increased during the study period, the trend for functional limitations would have been 40% lower, and that for activity limitations would have shown a slight decline instead of an increase. Attributions of functional limitations to painful conditions increased by 23% during the 2002-2018 period, representing an additional 9.82 million Americans experiencing pain-attributable disability. Arthritis/rheumatism, back/neck problems, and other musculoskeletal/connective conditions were the primary sources of pain-related disability.

DISCUSSION

Our research provides the first systematic, national examination of how pain is contributing to disability trends in the United States. The findings have implications for disability reduction policies and shed light on the far-reaching consequences of pain for overall population health.

Are We Adding Pain-Free Years to Life? A Test of Compression Versus Expansion of Morbidity

BACKGROUND

There has been debate regarding whether increases in longevity result in longer and healthier lives or more disease and suffering. To address the issue, this study uses health expectancy methods and tests an expansion versus compression of morbidity with respect to pain.

METHODS

Data are from 1993 to 2018 Health and Retirement Study. Pain is categorized as no pain, nonlimiting, and limiting pain. Multistate life tables examine 77 996 wave-to-wave transitions across pain states or death using the Stochastic Population Analysis for Complex Events program. Results are presented as expected absolute and relative years of life for 70-, 80-, and 90-year-old men and women. Confidence intervals assess significance of differences over time. Population- and status-based results are presented.

RESULTS

For those 70 and 80 years old, relative and absolute life with nonlimiting and limiting pain increased substantially for men and women, and despite variability on a wave-to-wave basis, results generally confirm an expanding pain morbidity trend. Results do not vary by baseline status, indicating those already in pain are just as likely to experience expansion of morbidity as those pain-free at baseline. Results are different for 90-year-olds who have not experienced expanding pain morbidity and do not show an increase in life expectancy.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are consistent with extant literature indicating increasing pain prevalence among older Americans and portend a need for attention to pain-coping resources, therapies, and prevention strategies.

Pain, Physical Demands at Work, and Future Work Expectations Among Older Adults in the United States

Background and Objectives

In the United States, pain is becoming increasingly prevalent among older adults at the same time as policies are incentivizing work longer. Given that pain and physically demanding jobs are both linked to early retirement and they often go hand-in-hand, it is important to assess how the unique effects of pain and physical work demands may interact in predicting future work expectations.

Research Design and Methods

Using Health and Retirement Study data (1998, 2004, 2010, and 2016 waves), we assess how pain and physical job demands influence future work expectations of 10,358 adults at midlife (ages 51-56), after accounting for sociodemographic, job, health, and financial characteristics.

Results

Compared to men with no pain, activity-interfering pain was associated with low expectations of full-time work past 62 regardless of job demands, while noninterfering pain was associated with 62% higher odds (odds ratio [OR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35-1.93) of expecting not to work full-time past age 62 only among those with physically demanding jobs. Having both interfering pain and a physically demanding job was associated with increased odds of expecting not to work full-time past age 65 for men (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.06-1.47) and past age 62 for women (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00-1.39).

Discussion and Implications

The co-occurrence of physically demanding work with pain-particularly activity-interfering pain-is associated with low expectations of full-time work past ages 62 and 65 for adults at midlife. Working longer may be feasible for older adults whose pain does not interfere with work, but unrealistic for individuals facing both pain and physically demanding work.

Cannabis use for pain relief in the context of health service barriers: Accounts of street-involved Nigerian women suffering chronic pain

INTRODUCTION

This study explored cannabis use for pain relief among socially marginalised Nigerian women in the context of barriers to pain management.

METHODS

The study was designed as a qualitative exploratory study of pain experience and management. Sixteen in-depth, individual interviews were conducted with street-involved women who use drugs and had chronic pain. Transcripts were coded and analysed thematically.

RESULTS

Pain was experienced as a pervasive feature of everyday life that disrupted daily routines, affected economic activities, strained social relationships and had adverse effects on health and wellbeing. Participants sought treatment in health facilities, but faced social and health system barriers to service utilisation including financial cost of services, dismissal of symptoms by providers, stigma due to physical appearance, substance use and lack of social support. These barriers encouraged disengagement from services and reliance on cannabis (along with heroin and diverted prescription opioids) for pain management. Cannabis use relieved pain and improved daily functioning, enabling participants to undertake economic activities. However, using cannabis to enhance the effects of opioids and heavy and long-term use owing to pain chronicity and disability generated concerns about harms.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Findings show the therapeutic benefits of cannabis in the face of barriers to pain management. This support calls to explore the potentials of cannabis for pain management for socially marginalised populations and to develop medical guidelines to reduce the risk of adverse health consequences. Therapeutic cannabis, provided based on medical guidance, could improve pain management for socially marginalised populations.

Take the Day Off: Examining the Sick Role for Chronic Back Pain by Race and Gender

Research has largely overlooked the public’s willingness to validate entrance to the sick role for individuals experiencing chronic pain. To fill this gap, we conducted a survey experiment to assess how race, gender, and their intersection impact (1) the legitimation of missing work due to pain and (2) recommendations for help seeking, examining the role of both respondents and vignette characters. We find that respondent characteristics are associated with perceived acceptability of missing work due to pain, and both respondent and vignette characteristics are associated with help-seeking endorsements. White females are least likely to view pain as an acceptable excuse to miss work but are most likely to endorse help-seeking measures, while black women are recommended the most treatments for pain. We theorize how results provide evidence to counter assumptions of objectivity and linearity of the sick role and how gender and race influence the social response to pain.

Physical work conditions and disparities in later life functioning: Potential pathways

Research in the US on the social determinants of reduced physical functioning at older ages has typically not considered physical work conditions as contributors to disparities. We briefly describe a model of occupational stratification and segregation, review and synthesize the occupational health literature, and outline the physiological pathways through which physical work exposures may be tied to long-term declines in physical functioning. The literature suggests that posture, force, vibration, and repetition are the primary occupational risk factors implicated in the development of musculoskeletal disorders, through either acute injuries or longer-term wear and tear. Personal risk factors and environmental and structural work characteristics can modify this association. In the long-term, these musculoskeletal disorders can become chronic and ultimately lead to functional limitations and disabilities that interfere with one's quality of life and ability to remain independent. We then use data on occupational characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) linked to the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) to examine disparities among sociodemographic groups in exposure to these risk factors. Occupations with high levels of these physical demands are not limited to those traditionally thought of as manual or blue-collar jobs and include many positions in the service sector. We document a steep education gradient with less educated workers experiencing far greater physical demands at work than more educated workers. There are pronounced racial and ethnic differences in these exposures with Hispanic, Black, and Native American workers experiencing higher risks than White and Asian workers. Occupations with high exposures to these physical risk factors provide lower compensation and are less likely to provide employer-sponsored health insurance, making it more difficult for workers to address injuries or conditions that arise from their jobs. In sum, we argue that physical work exposures are likely an important pathway through which disparities in physical functioning arise.

Sociology of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a common, costly, and consequential health problem. However, despite some important analytic contributions, sociological research on pain has not yet coalesced into a unified subfield. We present three interrelated bodies of evidence and illustrative new empirical findings using 2010 to 2018 National Health Interview Survey data to argue that pain should have a central role in sociological investigations of health. Specifically, we contend that (1) pain is a sensitive barometer of population health and well-being, (2) pain is emblematic of many contested and/or chronic conditions, and (3) pain and pain treatment reflect and have wide-ranging implications for public policy. Overall, whether pain is analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively-focusing on its distribution in the population, its social causes and consequences, or its subjective meanings for individuals-pain reflects social conditions, sociopolitical context, and health-related beliefs of a society. Pain is thus an important frontier for future sociological research.