Senior WISE intervention: Gender differences in bodily pain and trait anxiety.

The memory intervention combined mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral anxiety coping, memory strategy training, and discussion of false beliefs about aging, so the study cannot show which component mattered. Pain was measured with one SF-36 item about bodily pain in the past four weeks, and medication intake was not documented. Social support was not measured, although the authors note it can influence pain in older adults. The pain benefit was present at post-treatment but absent at end of study. The sample was recruited from Central Texas community sites and was highly motivated, so less engaged older adults may not be represented. The MMSE cut score was changed for Hispanic adults, and practice effects may have been greater for Black and Hispanic participants.

The supplied metadata lists research support from the N.I.H., Extramural. The article text provided does not include a funding or conflict of interest declaration.

Do not conclude that memory training alone reduces pain. The memory intervention also included mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral anxiety coping, memory strategy training, and discussion of false beliefs about aging. The pain effect was not present at end of study, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.