Chronic pain as a moderator between fear of falling and poor physical performance among community-dwelling older adults.

This cross-sectional study examined the associations between fear of falling (FOF) and physical performance as moderated by chronic pain in older Thai adults. Participants were 365 adults, aged ≥ 60 years living in suburban Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Of the 365 participants, 56.2% had high levels of FOF based on the short version of the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I). Participants with moderate to severe pain, moderate-to-high pain interference, or multiple site pain were more likely to have FOF than those without pain (p-value<0.05). Multivariate linear regression models indicated FOF was associated with poor physical performance after adjusting for health and demographic factors. Participants with high levels of both FOF and pain reported lower physical performance scores than those with high levels of FOF without pain. Future studies are needed to determine effective interventions to increase fall efficacy and physical activity among older adults with FOF and chronic pain.

Factors associated with nutrition risk among community-dwelling older adults in Thailand.

This study was to investigate socio-demographic, chronic conditions and health factors associated with nutrition risk among Thai community-dwelling older adults. This was a cross-sectional study, involving 330 participants aged ≥ 60 years living in low-income suburban Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Of the 330 participants, 54.8% were at nutritional risk based on the Mini Nutritional Assessment. Multivariate analysis indicated factors significantly associated with nutritional risk were: aged ≥80 years (OR:8.59, 95% CI = 2.94-25.11), low income (OR: 2.35, 95% CI = 1.15-4.78), living alone (OR: 2.02, 95% CI = 0.20-0.78), moderate to severe pain (OR: 5.88, 95% CI = 2.30-15.02), dyslipidemia (OR: 5.12, 95% CI = 2.23-11.77), osteoarthritis (OR: 2.49, 95% CI = 1.14-5.48), poor physical performance (OR: 1.49, 95% CI = 1.70-3.15), and ≥1 fall in the previous year (OR: 2.22, 95% CI = 1.21-4.07). Results point to the need for multifactorial interventions to reduce risk for geriatric nutrition problems. Further studies are needed to determine effective solutions to the problem of malnutrition among older adults.