Influence of chronic pain on cognitive performance in elderly caregivers: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective: to compare cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with and without chronic pain over four years and verify the effect of pain intensity on cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with chronic pain. Method: a longitudinal study with data collected in 2014 and 2018. Community-dwelling elderly caregivers of a Brazilian city participated in the study. Cognition was assessed using the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination instrument. Pain was assessed by an 11-point scale. For data analysis, a mixed linear model and ANCOVA with a 5% significance level were used. Results: they were divided into two groups. A cognitive decline over four years was found in elderly people with pain (p=0.02; 95%CI=0.32-4.25), while those without pain did not show a significant change. Conclusion: the results show that elderly caregivers with pain had a worse cognitive performance, but when comparing groups with the ANCOVA test for intergroup analysis, there was no difference in cognitive performance.