The impact of chronic musculoskeletal pain on exercise attitudes, self-efficacy, and physical activity

The authors examined the relationship between musculoskeletal pain, self-efficacy, attitudes and beliefs about exercise, and physical activity in 75- to 85-year-old adults. Participants rated their pain during the preceding month in their back, hips, knees, and feet on a scale of 0 to 10. Pain was categorized by number of sites of moderate to severe pain. Among the 325 participants, 42.8% reported at least moderate pain in at least 1 site. Having more pain sites was associated with younger age, lower income, depressed mood, and poorer self-rated health. Participants with more pain sites scored lower on exercise attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy, but the self-efficacy scale was most strongly associated with physical activity. Participants with 2-4 pain sites and low self-efficacy were >4 times as likely to be sedentary as those with no pain and high self-efficacy. These findings suggest that improving self-efficacy for exercise might be an important component of programs to increase physical activity in adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain.