• Tatsuya Hirase, Shigeru Inokuchi, Shota Koshikawa, Hinata Shimada, and Minoru Okita.
• Division of Physical Therapy Science, Graduate Course of Health and Social Work, Kanagawa University of Human Services, Kanagawa, Japan.
• Pain Med. 2023 May 2; 24 (5): 507514507-514.

ObjectiveTo examine whether compared with a program without increased physical activity, an intervention program with increased physical activity can prevent the development of musculoskeletal pain in community-dwelling older adults.DesignRandomized controlled trial.SettingJapanese community.SubjectsSeventy-nine older adults without musculoskeletal pain were randomized into two groups: an intervention group (n = 40) that engaged in increased physical activity and an exercise class and a control group (n = 39) that participated only in the exercise class.MethodsThe exercise class consisted of weekly 60-min sessions over 24 weeks. The program to increase physical activity required the participants to record their daily step counts using pedometers. The primary outcome was the development of musculoskeletal pain, and secondary outcomes were physical function, psychological status, cognitive function, and physical activity levels.ResultsTwenty-four weeks after the intervention, the intervention group had a significantly lower prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (12.8%) than the control group (32.4%; P = .040). A time-by-group interaction emerged for cognitive function (P = .01) and physical activity levels (P < .001), both of which favored the intervention group. The intervention group also showed greater improvement in psychological status 24 weeks after the intervention than the control group (P = .018).ConclusionsThe intervention program with increased physical activity prevented the development of musculoskeletal pain and improved cognitive function, physical activity levels, and psychological status more effectively than the program without increased physical activity. Our intervention program may be an effective pain prevention approach for older adults.Trial RegistrationUMIN000032768; registered on June 1, 2018.© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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