Longitudinal relationship between pain with long-term depressive symptoms, cognitive function and its trajectory among middle-aged and older adults in China

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the associations of pain status with long-term depressive symptoms, cognition, and the trajectories of both.MethodsA total of 10,683 and 4644 individuals were included in this study. The generalized estimation equation and multinomial logistic regression was applied to explore the association of pain status with long-term depressive symptoms, cognition, and the trajectories of them.ResultsCompared to individuals without pain, those with pain were positively related to depressive symptoms (adjusted β = 0.479, 95% CI: 0.449, 0.508), and were negatively related to cognitive function (adjusted β = -0.166, 95%CI: -0.212, -0.119). Both four depressive and cognitive trajectories were identified. Participants with pain were associated with significantly increased risk of moderate-stable (Traj 2, OR = 2.78, 95% CI 2.49-3.09), extra-stable (Traj 3, OR = 6.14, 95% CI 5.36-7.03) and high-stable depressive symptoms trajectory (Traj 4, OR = 12.55, 95% CI 9.70-16.24). Participants with pain were also associated with significantly decreased risk of moderate-stable (Traj 2, OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.50-0.99), extra-stable (Traj 3, OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.36-0.74) and high-stable (Traj 4, OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.22-0.55) cognition trajectory.ConclusionIndividuals with pain were more likely to suffer more depressive symptoms, and were associated with lower scores for cognition function.