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Chronic pain is common in older people. However, little is known about how pain is experienced in residents of retirement villages ('villages'), and how pain intensity and associations are experienced in relation to characteristics of residents and village living. We thus aimed to examine pain levels, prevalence and associated factors in village residents. The current paper is a cross‐sectional analysis of baseline data from the 'Older People in Retirement Villages' study in Auckland, New Zealand. Between July 2016 and August 2018, 578 village residents were interviewed face‐to‐face by gerontology nurse specialists, using interRAI Community Health Assessment (CHA) and customised survey. We used a validated pain scale and multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for pre‐specified confounders. Residents' median age was 82 years; 420 (73%) were female; 270 (47%) exhibited/reported daily pain, and in 11% this was severe. After controlling for confounders, daily pain was positively associated with self‐reported arthritis (OR = 3.88, 95% CI = 2.57–5.87), poor/fair self‐reported health (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.29–7.93), having no health clinic on‐site (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.10–2.83), and minimal fatigue (diminished energy but completes normal day‐to‐day activities) (OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.11–2.81). Similar associations were observed for levels of pain. We conclude that levels of pain and prevalence of daily pain are high in village residents. Self‐reported arthritis, self‐reported poor/fair health, no health clinic on‐site and minimal fatigue are all independently associated with a higher risk of daily pain and with levels of pain. This study suggests potential opportunities for villages to better provide on‐site support to decrease prevalence and severity of pain for their residents, and thus potentially increase wellbeing and quality‐of‐life, though as we cannot prove causality, more research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the adverse health consequences of zinc deficiency are becoming increasingly well known internationally, few studies have investigated zinc status in Australia and New Zealand. The aim of this review was to identify which population groups, if any, in Australia and New Zealand are likely to be at risk of zinc deficiency. A literature review was conducted to identify papers on zinc status in Australasia using electronic databases (MEDLINE, BIOSIS Previews, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, ProQuest and Cochrane Library). Government databases and reference lists from peer-reviewed journal articles were also accessed. Thirty-one Australasian studies that measured dietary zinc intake and/or serum zinc were identified. Many were based on a small number of self-selected subjects, and did not use the recommended procedures for evaluating the prevalence of inadequate zinc intakes and low serum zinc concentrations. Existing data suggest that at-risk groups in Australasia are toddlers, adolescents (especially those of Pacific and Aboriginal ethnicities), institutionalised elderly and possibly people with diabetes. Data on the zinc status of selected population groups in Australasia are limited. Randomised controlled zinc supplementation trials that include the recommended indicators and other clinical outcomes are needed to confirm the existence of zinc-related health outcomes among the at-risk groups identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]