Quality of life in elderly subjects with pain in the hip or knee

This study examines the quality of life (QOL) of community living elderly people aged 55-74 with chronic, episodic or sporadic pain in the hip or knee and of a reference group without pain (total n = 306). Firstly, it was hypothesized that the experienced QOL is lower in people with more chronic pain. Secondly, the potential mediating and moderating roles of disability and of coping with problems in general on the relationship between pain chronicity and QOL were assessed. A Visual Analogue Scale was used to assess global QOL. Physical as well as psychosocial disability was assessed with the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Coping with problems in general was assessed with the Utrecht Coping List. As expected, a significantly lower QOL was found in people with more chronic pain (p = 0.045). The difference in QOL between the group with chronic pain and a reference group without pain was 10%. A multivariate regression model showed that physical and especially psychosocial disability are mediators in the relationship between pain chronicity and QOL and that 'seeking social support' as a coping style is a more important predictor of the experienced QOL than either pain chronicity or physical disability. No moderating role of the style of coping with problems was found.