Influencing factors of psychological pain among older people in China: A cross-sectional study

Limited research has focused on the psychological pain among older people and factors associated with psychological distress in older adults also remain to be evaluated. This study aims to examine the status and correlates of psychological pain among older people from urban and rural areas in China. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 4312 samples which extracted from the dataset of China's Health-Related Quality of Life Survey for Older Adults 2018. Psychological pain was assessed by the Chinese version of the Psychache Scale (PAS). Multiple linear regression models were established to examine the associations between demographic characteristics and psychological pain. The average score of PAS among older people was 41.79 ± 14.52, and the average score of PAS among urban older people was higher than rural ones in this study. For rural older people, age (B ≥ (80) = 2.55), gender (B (Female) = 1.27), educational level (B (Primary school) = 1.63; B (≥ Middle school) = 0.27), smoking (B (yes) = 0.83), number of chronic diseases (B (≥ 2) = 3.19) and personal social capital (B (BRC) = 0.27) were positively related to psychological pain, while family per-capita annual income (B(15,000-30,000) = −2.52; B > (30,000) = −3.44), living arrangement (B (With spouse) = -3.40; B (With children) = -2.89; B (Others) = -3.82) and personal social capital (B (BOC) = −0.36) were negatively associated with psychological pain (p < 0.05). Moreover, for urban older people, gender (B (Female) = 0.98), current occupation (B (With occupation) = 1.13) and smoking (B (yes) = 2.14) were positively related to psychological pain, whereas age (B (≥ 80) = −1.45), family per-capita annual income (B > (30,000) = −3.63), living arrangement (B (With spouse) = -1.31), BMI (B(normal) = −2.62) and personal social capital (B (BOC) = −0.16) were negatively associated with psychological pain (p < 0.05). The present study sheds light on the worrying state of psychological pain experienced by Chinese older people. The results suggest that targeted interventions and social support, should be taken to alleviate the psychological pain among older people, especially urban older people.