Abstract
Mobility-related injuries associate with reduced quality of life, greater functional dependence, and quicker mortality in older adults—warranting prevention efforts. One factor elevating injury risk may be persistent low back pain, which can negatively affect cognitive and physical functions essential for safe mobility. Among older adults obtaining license renewal (n = 1,127), this study examined the association between persistent low back pain and incidence of falls and motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) for up to 15 years. Overall, older adults with persistent low back pain were more likely to have a fall (odds ratio [OR] = 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.34, 1.77]) or MVC (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = [1.07, 1.77]) than those without back pain. Furthermore, the number of falls and MVCs was lower for people with better lower limb and visuospatial function, respectively. Ameliorating pain and functioning in persistent lower back pain might contribute to improved mobility and a reduction of injury-related risk in later life.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1455-1464 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Gerontology |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (5R01AG021958-10, 1 P30 AG022838 [Edward R. Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility]) and U.S. Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT/NHTSA) Contract DTNH22-96-C-05140, Model Driver Screening and Evaluation Program.
Funding Information:
A special thanks to the UAB Department of Psychology and the Edward R. Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility. K. Ball owns stock in the Visual Awareness Research Group (formerly Visual Awareness, Inc.), and Posit Science, Inc., the companies that market the Useful Field of View Test and speed of processing training software. Posit Science acquired Visual Awareness, and K. Ball continues to collaborate on the design and testing of these assessments and training programs as a member of the Posit Science Scientific Advisory Board. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (5R01AG021958-10, 1 P30 AG022838 [Edward R. Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility]) and U.S. Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT/NHTSA) Contract DTNH22-96-C-05140, Model Driver Screening and Evaluation Program.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Keywords
- cognition
- falls
- injury
- motor vehicle collisions
- pain
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gerontology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology