Prevalence of pain in community-dwelling older adults with hypertension in the United States

Hypertension and pain are both prevalent conditions in the older adult population. We aimed to report the prevalence of pain discomforts and investigated the association between hypertension and pain discomforts among older adults in the United States. Data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study were analyzed. In-person interviews were conducted in 7601 adults ages ≥ 65 years. Prevalence of bothersome pain, activity-limiting pain, locations of pain and usage of pain medicine were evaluated. Demographics, comorbidities, and other covariates were compared between older adults with hypertension and those without. Multivariate regression was further performed to yield adjusted odd ratios. Among 6825 older adults, 4533 of them had a history of hypertension while 2272 of them had not. Prevalence of bothersome pain (57.12% versus 44.81%, p