Recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has connected some dots between chronic pain and falls, showing a strong association that heretofore has been underestimated.

In their report, the lead researcher Suzanne Leveille and her colleagues wrote: "Pain contributes to functional decline and muscle weakness, and is associated with mobility limitations that could predispose to fall." Their findings suggest that instead of simply viewing chronic pain as an unpleasant aspect of the aging process, people should acknowledge it as a serious risk factor for falls.

The authors of the study referred to several ways by which pain might contribute to falling:

Approximately 750 subjects, ages 70-plus, took part in the study. They reported any pain they experienced and maintained a record of every fall they sustained. One thousand twenty-nine falls occurred over the 18-month follow-up period, with slightly more than half the subjects reporting at least one incident. The following results link chronic pain to an increased risk for falls:

Leveille recommends that older adults and their physicians discuss the connection between pain and falls with the goal of developing a personalized fall prevention plan, according to a report on the study by HealthDay. For many individuals, effective pain management might play an important role in decreasing the risk for falling.