Relationships Between Self-Reported Pain and Optimism Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Measures of life outlook in older adults have been investigated in connection to pain, as both pain management and outlook are important factors of successful aging. We hypothesized that higher pain is associated with lower optimism among community-dwelling older adults. We utilized data from the UC San Diego Successful Aging Evaluation (SAGE), a prospective longitudinal cohort study initiated in 2010, to evaluate the relationship between pain and optimism in 378 community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years. We used the revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) to measure optimism and three pain subscales–PROMIS Pain Interference, PROMIS Pain Intensity, and MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)–as pain measures. Regression analyses reveal negative relationships between pain and optimism for all three pain scales, with regression coefficients of −0.277 ( p < .0001), −0.246 ( p < .0001), and 0.269 ( p < .0001) respectively. This indicates value in considering physical and psychological elements in future intervention research to promote healthy aging.