Activity of daily living impairment mediates the relationship between pain and falls in Chinese older adults: a cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Falls impose a substantial disease burden on older adults, yet whether ADL impairment mediates the pain-falls pathway remains unclear. This study investigates whether ADL impairment acts as a mediator in the relationship between pain and incident falls among Chinese community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) on respondents aged ≥ 60 years. Baseline and follow-up information was obtained through structured interviews. Logistic regression first quantified the pairwise associations among pain, ADL impairment, and falls. Subsequently, bootstrap-based mediation analysis was applied to test whether ADL impairment mediated the pain-falls relationship, restric

SUBMITTER: Li X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12581587 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature