Pain Limits Older Adults’ Expectations of their Life Expectancy
Gillian Fennell1, Margarita Osuna, Erica Sluys2, Jennifer Ailshire1
1University of Southern California, 2Weill Cornell Medical College

Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability and is a limiting factor in individuals’ assessments of their own subjective health; however, the association between pain and assessments of one’s longevity has not yet been explored. Subjective life expectancy (SLE) is associated with actual mortality, psychological wellbeing, and hinders health/financial planning. This study assesses whether pain predicts lower SLE among participants aged 50+ in the Health and Retirement Study (N=17,399). OLS regressions indicate that pain predicts lower subjective probabilities of living an additional 10-15 years. Compared to individuals with no pain, those with interfering moderate to severe pain reported lower SLE (B = -6.79, p < .001). Participants with interfering pain report the lowest SLE, regardless of pain intensity. We discuss avenues for improving participants’ SLE and make recommendations for future research.