FALLS AMONG OLDER AMERICAN MEN: THE ROLE OF PAIN AND MILITARY EXPERIENCES IN THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY

摘要

Relatively little is known about if or how veteran status is related to pain and falls among community-dwelling older men. We investigated the association between pain and falls, and examined whether veterans status and combat experience might modify this association. The study sample included 2718 men from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of older Americans (mean age 76.6, range 68–99). The number of falls as the outcome was measured prospectively in 2012. Key independent variables, measured in 2010, included reporting trouble with pain, veteran status, and combat experience (fired a weapon in combat). Descriptive statistics include: 36% of the men fell during 2 years, 30% reported trouble with pain, 40% were non-veterans, and 14% and 46% were veterans with and without combat experiences, respectively. Multivariate Generalized Estimating Equation Poisson regression indicates that having trouble with pain increased the rate of experiencing a fall by 77% adjusting for age, race, marital status, education, income, alcohol consumption, physical activities, vision, depression, psychotropic medication, and comorbidities. There is an interaction between veteran status and pain on the risk of falls. Stratified analyses by veteran status and combat experiences show that having trouble with pain increased the rate of experiencing a fall by 80% and 97% in non-veterans and veterans without combat experience, respectively. There was no association between pain and falls among veterans with combat experience. Further research is recommended to understand how military experiences are related to the association between pain and falls in older adults.