A painful association: Pain-related restriction of going out linked with limitation of everyday activities in older adults

For older adults, getting out of the house less frequently due to leg and back pain could point to more serious day-to-day difficulties.

An Osaka Metropolitan University research team investigated the association between low back or leg pain-related restriction of going out and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) limitation among community-dwelling older adults in Japan. 

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the Public Survey of Long-Term Care Prevention and Needs in Spheres of Daily Life conducted from 2018–2020. A total of 28,118 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older without certified care needs were included, with pain assessed by self-report as low back or leg pain-related restriction of going out. IADL limitation was evaluated using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence, which includes activities like shopping and paying bills by oneself.

The study revealed that participants with low back or leg pain-related restriction of going out had higher odds of IADL limitation compared with those with no such reported restriction. Subgroup analyses showed that this association was observed in both men and women and in adults aged 65–74 years and those aged 75 years or older. 

These results suggest that pain-related restriction of going out may be an important marker of IADL limitation; however, future longitudinal studies are needed to clarify temporal relationships between pain-related restriction of going out and IADL limitation.

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