Societal impact on older persons? chronic pain: Roles of age stereotypes, age attribution, and age discrimination

Rationale: In view of the severity and prevalence of chronic pain, combined with the limited success of long-term treatments, there is the need for a more expansive understanding of its etiology. We therefore investigated over time three societal-based potential determinants of chronic pain that were previously unexamined in this connection: negative age stereotypes, age attribution, and age discrimination. Methods: The cohort consisted of 1373 Americans aged 55 and older, who participated in four waves of the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, spanning seven years. Results: Consistent with the hypotheses, negative age stereotypes as well as age discrimination predicted chronic pain, and age attribution acted as a mediator between the negative age stereotypes and chronic pain. In a subset of participants who were free of chronic pain at baseline, those who had assimilated negative age stereotypes were 32% more likely to develop chronic pain in the next seven years than those who had assimilated positive age stereotypes. Conclusion: Our finding that the three societal-based and modifiable predictors contributed to chronic pain re-futes the widely held belief that chronic pain experienced in later life is entirely and inevitably a consequence of aging.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the impact of negative age stereotypes, age attribution, and age discrimination on chronic pain. The results revealed that negative age stereotypes and age discrimination predicted chronic pain, and age attribution acted as a mediator between the two. Furthermore, participants who assimilated negative age stereotypes were 32% more likely to develop chronic pain in the next seven years compared to those who assimilated positive age stereotypes. This suggests that chronic pain in later life is not solely a result of aging but also influenced by societal factors.