RESUMO
BACKGROUND: To describe pain, cognitive function, and frailty of older people in post-acute care settings and examine the association between the three elements. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 142 participants from a rehabilitation ward and a geriatric day centre. Pain, cognitive function and frailty were assessed using Brief Pain Inventory, Abbreviated Mental Test, and 5-item Frail Scale respectively. RESULTS: Participants were mostly women (51.7%) with a mean age of 76.5 (SD 7.8). Mean scores for pain, cognition, and frailty were 9.0⯱â¯1.0, 4.0⯱â¯2.8, and 2.2⯱â¯1.2, respectively. Cognition had a significant inverse association with frailty (ßâ¯=â¯-0.160, pâ¯=â¯0.047), and pain had a significant positive association with frailty (ßâ¯=â¯5.122, p < 0.001). This linear regression model explained a variance of 0.269. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated the association between pain, cognitive function, and frailty. In predicting frailty, however, more studies are required to determine the predictive value and cut-off points for pain and cognitive measures.