The Impact Of Pain And Other Symptoms On Physical Functi

残疾老年人通常患有一种或多种慢性病。除了随着时间的推移可能使人衰弱的慢性病理学之外，日常症状经历可能在慢性病患者中产生持久的负担。疼痛和虚弱等症状与先前存在的耐力或肌肉力量下降等损伤的融合可能导致日常活动能力的丧失。然而，很少有研究探讨症状对老年人日常功能和其他健康结果的影响。这项研究的目的是利用妇女健康和老龄化研究的数据，调查疼痛和其他慢性病症状对老年残疾妇女日常生活的影响，这是一项关于老年妇女残疾原因和过程的前瞻性队列研究。本研究的具体问题包括：（1）老年妇女报告的导致其残疾的主要症状是什么？(2)与症状相关的残疾归因如何随困难程度和残疾领域而变化？(3)哪些因素介导症状报告和残疾之间的关系？(4)哪些流行的慢性病与据报为残疾主要原因的症状有关？(5)肌肉骨骼疼痛是否会增加福尔斯和其他健康结果的风险？(6)使用止痛药是否能降低患有慢性肌肉骨骼疼痛的老年女性不良结局的可能性？

Older persons with disabilities typically live with one or more chronic conditions. In addition to chronic pathology that can be debilitating over time, the daily symptom experience can create an enduring burden in chronically ill persons. The convergence of symptoms such as pain and weakness, with pre-existing impairments such as reduced endurance or muscle strength, can result in disability in the performance of daily activities. However, little research has examined the effects of symptoms on daily functioning and other health outcomes in older persons. The goal of the research is to investigate the impact of pain and other symptoms of chronic diseases on the daily lives of older disabled women using data from the Women's Health and Aging Study, a prospective cohort study of the causes and course of disability in older women. Specific questions to be addressed in this research include: (1) What do older women report as the major symptoms contributing to their disability? (2) How does disability attribution related to symptoms vary with level of difficulty and domains of disability? (3) What factors mediate the relationship between symptom reporting and disability? (4) What prevalent chronic diseases are associated with symptoms reported as the main cause of disability? (5) Does musculoskeletal pain increase the risk for falls and other health outcomes? (6) Does use of analgesic medications reduce the likelihood of poor outcomes in older women who have chronic musculoskeletal pain?