Determinants of health-related quality of life in older people with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the significant physical, psychological, and social determinants associated with EuroQuol-5D (EQ-5D) among Chinese older people with chronic musculoskeletal pain, and to evaluate how these determinants affected the five dimensions of EQ-5D. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected through a cohort involving 946 community-dwelling older people aged ≥ 60 with chronic musculoskeletal pain in Hong Kong. Selected independent variables were categorized into physical, psychological, and social domains. Physical variables included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), pain severity score, number of pain regions, the most painful site, and the number of comorbidities. Psychological variables included depression level measured using the 9-question Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and anxiety level measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7). Social variables included living, marital, and social welfare recipient's status. The dependent variables comprised the index scores and the five dimensions of the EQ-5D descriptive system. Ordinal least squares (OLS) model and logistic regression model were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 67.1 (SD = 5.1), with 77.6% being female. Higher pain severity scores (beta (ß) coefficient =-0.044, P < 0.001), depression scores (ß=-0.007, P < 0.001) and higher anxiety scores (ß=-0.01, P < 0.001) were associated with lower EQ-5D index scores. Specifically, knee pain (ß=-0.061, P < 0.001) was significantly associated with lower EQ-5D index scores. Participants with higher pain severity and depression scores were more likely to report problems in most EQ-5D dimensions. Participants with anxiety primarily faced challenges related to mood, and those with knee pain were more likely to have problems with mobility and daily activities. CONCLUSION: Among the selected determinants in our study, pain intensity, depression, anxiety, and knee pain were identified as key determinants associated with reduced HRQoL in older Chinese people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Each of these determinants showed distinct associations with different dimensions of the EQ-5D, potentially informed resource allocation and the development of targeted interventions to improve the overall HRQoL of this specific population.

Patient preferences in the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review of discrete choice experiments.

ABSTRACT: Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is a preference-sensitive condition for which numerous treatment options are available, each with benefits and risks. Thus, patient preferences play a critical role in decision making. This study summarized evidence from discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to quantify patient preferences for CMP treatment and identified important treatment attributes. A systematic review of DCEs on patient preferences for CMP treatment was conducted. Studies were included if they used DCE to determine patient preferences for CMP. A previously described methodological assessment tool was used to assess the risk of bias. The treatment attributes were summarized and sorted according to the frequency of citation and relative weight. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the intervention-specific attributes. A total of 15 eligible studies with 4065 participants were included. We identified "capacity to realize daily life activities," "risk of adverse events," "effectiveness in pain reduction," and "out-of-pocket cost" as important attributes. Although "treatment frequency" and "onset of treatment efficacy" were less frequently mentioned, they were also important attributes. The attribute of "risk of adverse events" was especially important for drug treatment. The "out-of-pocket cost" and "treatment location and mode" were important attributes of exercise therapy. The attributes identified in this review will inform the design of future DCE studies, facilitate the translation of measurement-based care to value-based care, and provide the rationale to promote shared decision making and patient-centered care.