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There is currently little primary data looking at the epidemiology of back pain in older people and there are few large-scale population based studies which consider the occurrence or aetiology of back pain within this age group. Some evidence suggests that while non-disabling back pain decreases in the oldest old, the prevalence of disabling back pain may continue to increase. However, the aetiology of back pain in this group remains relatively unknown. Therefore, the overall aim of the current thesis was to investigate the epidemiology of back pain in older people, to examine the occurrence of back pain and age-related patterns in prevalence and incidence (descriptive epidemiology) and to identify potential risk factors for predicting back pain onset in those ≥75 years, specifically, to determine the role of social networks (analytical epidemiology). This was done through secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study from Cambridge looking at older people ≥75 years. It has been shown that while the prevalence of non-disabling back pain did not vary significantly across age, the prevalence of disabling back pain increased with age. In addition, it has been demonstrated, firstly, that aspects and indicators of physical health and a prior history of back pain are associated and independent predictors of back pain in older people; and secondly, that while objective measures of social contact are not risk markers for back pain, low mood, feelings of social isolation and depression are more strongly associated. These findings were further verified and confirmed in a second study, a cross-sectional survey of people ≥65 years living in rural Scotland. It can therefore be concluded that back pain is a common problem in the older population and, while mild back pain may remain constant across older age, disabling back pain continues to increase into the oldest old. The risk profile for back pain in older age is multifactorial, while some risk factors evident in younger populations remain; there is greater emphasis on the impact of mood and psychosocial factors.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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This investigation has examined the demographic and social psychological variables of voluntary association membership, income, self-perceived health, marital status, level of education, and their relationship on' age and happiness. The data were obtained from an interview study based on a probability sample-survey of the adult population of the United States, which was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). Cross-tabulations were used as the mode of analysis.The study looked at the relationship between independent variable of age and the dependent variable of happiness. In addition, the variables of voluntary association membership, income, self-perceived health, marital status, level of education, and sex were used as controls to ascertain what affect, if any, they might have upon the relationship between age and happiness. Results from the study indicate that happiness varies by age and is also affected by the control variables. The findings also concur with previous research in showing the importance of self-perceived health and level of income as predictors of life satisfaction among the aged.