Table 1 Sample characteristics of 579 community-dwelling older women, and differences in pain, health and sociodemographic characteristics between women with none, some joint pain and many joint pain sites
Total (n = 579) | No joint pain (0 sites) (n = 177) | Some joint pain (1–4 sites) (n = 205) | Multisite joint pain (5–22 sites) (n = 197) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean age (mean; ±SD) | 64.6 (1.5) | 64.5 (1.5) | 64.6 (1.4) | 64.6 (1.5) | 0.46 |
Residence, no. live rural (%) | 359 (62.0) | 100 (65.5) | 126 (61.5) | 133 (67.5) | 0.89 |
Marital, no. married/defacto (%) | 467 (80.6) | 147 (83.1) | 168 (82.0) | 152 (77.2) | 2.99 |
Employed (%) | 249 (43.3) | 69 (39.4) | 80 (39.2) | 100 (51.0) | 0.03 |
Smoking status (never/ex-smoker) (%) | 535 (92.4) | 161 (91.0) | 195 (95.1) | 179 (91.0) | 0.12 |
Alcohol status (non/rare-drinker) (%) | 208 (38.0) | 81 (47.4) | 55 (28.5) | 72 (39.3) | < 0.001 |
BMI | |||||
Healthy / underweight (%) | 211 (36.4) | 85 (48.0) | 75 (36.6) | 51 (25.9) | < 0.001 |
Overweight (%) | 210 (36.3) | 61 (34.5) | 71 (34.6) | 78 (39.6) | |
Obese (%) | 158 (27.3) | 31 (17.5) | 59 (28.8) | 68 (34.5) | |
SF-36 physical component scale (mean; ±SD) | 45.0 (10.9) | 50 (10.0) | 47.6 (7.9) | 38 (11.0) | < 0.001 |
SF-36 mental component scale (mean; ±SD) | 52.1 (9.5) | 54.2 (7.2) | 52.4 (9.1) | 50.0 (11.1) | < 0.001 |
Duration of joint pain (months) (mean; ±SD) | 118.8 (121.2) | 90.9 (118.6) | 85.5 (99.0) | 154.4 (130.9) | < 0.01 |
painDETECT (neuropathic-like pain) (%) | 63 (24.4) | 4 (16.7) | 14 (15.6) | 45 (31.3) | 0.02 |
Present Pain Intensity (mean; ±SD) | |||||
Mild/Moderate | 185 (43.4) | 17 (50.0) | 125 (61.9) | 43 (22.6) | < 0.001 |
Discomforting | 195 (45.8) | 15 (44.1) | 70 (34.7) | 110 (57.9) | |
Distressing/Horrible/Excruciating | 46 (10.8) | 2 (5.9) | 7 (3.5) | 37 (19.5) | |
Number of prescribed medications (mean; ±SD) | 4.3 (3.3) | 3.4 (3.1) | 3.9 (2.8) | 5.6 (3.7) | < 0.001 |