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55/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 55 out of 100. Health systems and care delivery

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

Prevalence studies indicate that as many as 50% of older adults experience bothersome pain on a regular basis (Dahlhamer et al., 2018; Galicia-Castillo & Weiner, 2023; Larsson et al., 2017; Lin et al., 2020; Rikard et al., 2023). Beyond its immediate effects on well-being, chronic pain is associated with multiple deleterious consequences, including reduced mobility, falls, frailty, depression and anxiety, sleep impairment, and social isolation (Domenichiello & Ramsden, 2019; Dueñas et al., 2016; Makris et al., 2014; Reid et al., 2015; Saraiva et al., 2018). An increased understanding of social, biological, and psychological factors associated with pain, current pain management practices, and ways to measure pain is needed to advance prevention and treatment approaches. Investigations that seek to understand better how race, ethnicity, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and health literacy influence the experience of pain, treatment preferences, and outcomes associated with commonly administered therapies are sorely needed. This special issue begins to address these knowledge gaps by shedding light on understudied factors associated with pain, new measurement approaches, treatment practices, and patterns, as well as promising behavioral approaches to mitigate pain in aging adults. These results are important in light of ongoing calls to raise the retirement age. After controlling for relevant confounders using propensity score matching, the likelihood of reporting moderate-to-severe pain and activity-limiting pain were both significantly increased in persons with a history of incarceration. Although more research is needed to define these associations and possible causal mechanisms, the results of the study support efforts to screen for incarceration histories in health care settings. The severity of pain and number of pain sites were both independently associated with a greater likelihood of endorsing activity-limiting fall worry. Both lower body and upper body pain were also independently associated with an elevated risk of activity-limiting fall worry. These results support efforts to include pain management elements in fall prevention interventions directed at older adults with cognitive impairment. Further, specific behaviors including crying, pushing away, and screaming/yelling indicated a higher level of pain severity, whereas no rejection of care behaviors was associated with delirium severity. These results highlight the importance of consi

What this study adds

Evidence grade: High

This is a trial of 2,041 participants. This introduction to a special issue summarizes research on pain and pain management in older adults, noting that chronic pain is linked to problems such as reduced mobility and falls. Reported effect size: 13.2%; 6.3%.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Reid, M. C., & Pillemer, K. A. (2023). Introduction to Special Issue: Translational Research on Pain and Pain Management in Later Life. Innovation in Aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad119

Vancouver

Reid MC, Pillemer KA. Introduction to Special Issue: Translational Research on Pain and Pain Management in Later Life. Innovation in Aging. 2023. doi:10.1093/geroni/igad119. PMID: 38094939.

BibTeX

@article{reid2023-38094939,
  author  = {Reid, M. Carrington and Pillemer, Karl Andrew},
  title   = {{Introduction to Special Issue: Translational Research on Pain and Pain Management in Later Life}},
  journal = {Innovation in Aging},
  year    = {2023},
  doi     = {10.1093/geroni/igad119},
  pmid    = {38094939},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad119}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a trial. Participants are assigned to a treatment or a comparison, so the key questions are who was enrolled, whether the comparison group got a placebo or nothing, how long people were followed, and whether the result is on a measure that matters to patients or on a biomarker. Open-label and small trials can overstate benefit.
Size: the record lists 2,041 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “13.2%; 6.3%”. A statistically significant result can still be small in daily life.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded high. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. High means the abstract mentions a randomized design, a meta-analysis or a systematic review. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Prevalence studies indicate that as many as 50% of older adults experience bothersome pain on a regular basis (Dahlhamer et al., 2018; Galicia-Castillo & Weiner, 2023; Larsson et al., 2017; Lin et al., 2020; Rikard et al., 2023).
Beyond its immediate effects on well-being, chronic pain is associated with multiple deleterious consequences, including reduced mobility, falls, frailty, depression and anxiety, sleep impairment, and social isolation (Domenichiello & Ramsden, 2019; Dueñas et al., 2016; Makris et al., 2014; Reid et al., 2015; Saraiva et al., 2018).
An increased understanding of social, biological, and psychological factors associated with pain, current pain management practices, and ways to measure pain is needed to advance prevention and treatment approaches.
Investigations that seek to understand better how race, ethnicity, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and health literacy influence the experience of pain, treatment preferences, and outcomes associated with commonly administered therapies are sorely needed.
This special issue begins to address these knowledge gaps by shedding light on understudied factors associated with pain, new measurement approaches, treatment practices, and patterns, as well as promising behavioral approaches to mitigate pain in aging adults.

Why it matters

This introduction to a special issue summarizes research on pain and pain management in older adults, noting that chronic pain is linked to problems such as reduced mobility and falls. It contains no findings on treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

Study designrandomized controlled trial
Participants2,041
Effect size13.2%; 6.3%
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 55/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Innovation in Aging)
Journal's citation record	0 / 4	Innovation in Aging: journal h-index 48 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	11 / 12	A randomized controlled trial
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	3 / 5	2023 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	2,041 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	1 / 2	Randomized (as stated in the record)
Times cited	0 / 7	Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.0 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023
Impact for its field and year	0 / 6	Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Karl Andrew Pillemer: h-index 70 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Cornell University: institution h-index 1,649 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 38094939)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	55 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

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