Washington, Sep 17 - Persistent pain in younger people ages them by 20 to 30 years in terms of physical abilities, a new study suggests.

The study established that people with pain develop functional limitations associated with aging at much earlier ages.

Researchers looked at data from 18,531 participants, aged 50 and older, who took part in the 2004 Health and Retirement Study.

The four physical abilities considered were: mobility, for example walking or jogging; stair climbing; upper extremity tasks and; activity of daily living (bathing, dressing, eating etc.) with or without help.

Twenty four percent of participants had significant pain (moderate to severe pain). Participants with pain across all four physical abilities, had much higher rates of functional limitations than subjects without pain.