108 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 23 No. 01 January’24 Original article Differences in the Effectiveness of Infrared Therapy for Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain in the Elderly Ida Untari 1* , Ipin Prasojo 2 , Siti Sarifah 3 AddictiObjective: A health problem that is a priority for medical care and treatment for the elderly is pain in the musculoskeletal system. Non-pharmacological management in the form of treating musculoskelatal pain in the elderly, one of which is infrared therapy. Infrared therapy is able to reduce pain in the elderly and requires close supervision because the elderly experience a decrease in skin sensitivity to heat. The effectiveness of reducing pain varies in the elderly. One of the influencing factors is age. This study’s objective is to determine differences in the effectiveness of infrared therapy to reduce musculoskeletal pain in the elderly group. Materials and methods: This study used an experimental research method with a nonrandomized pretest- posttest control group design. The research location was conducted at the Posbindu Institut Teknologi Sains dan kesehatan PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta, in September - October 2022. A sample of 50 elderly people was divided into elderly (> 60 years: 30) and pre-elderly (45-60 years: 20) selected using a purposive technique sampling. The dependent variable is musculoskeletal pain. The independent variable is infrared therapy. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney test. Results and Discussion: The Wilcoxon test showed that there was an effect of infrared therapy in reducing musculoskeletal pain in the elderly and pre- elderly groups (p value <0.001 and <0.001). The average reduction in pain in the elderly group = 3.1; SD = 1.3 and pre-elderly = 2.95; SD = 1.2. The Mann-Whitney test showed no difference in reducing musculoskeletal pain using infrared therapy in the elderly and pre-elderly (p = 0.712). Conclusion: Infrared therapy is effective in reducing musculoskeletal pain and reducing musculoskeletal pain for the two elderly groups are similar Keywords: Elderly, Infrared Therapy, Pain. on Correspondence: Ida Untari Diploma Program of Nursing Faculty of Health Sciences Institute of Technology and Science PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta Jalan Tulang Bawang Selatan Tegalsari Kadipiro Banjarsari Surakarta Jawa Tengah. email: *1 idauntari@itspku.ac.id 1. Ida Untari Diploma Program of Nursing Faculty of Health Sciences Institute of Technology and Science PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta, 2. Ipin Prasojo Diploma of Electro Medical Engineering Faculty of Science and Engineering Institute of Technology and Science PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta, 3. Siti Sarifah Bachelor Program of Nursing Faculty of Health Sciences Institute of Technology and Science PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta Institut Teknologi Sains dan Kesehatan PKU Muhammadiyah Surakarta Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 23 No. 01 January’24 Page : 108-114 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v23i1.70695 A. Introduction People globally are living longer. Most people nowadays can manage to live into their sixties and beyond. The share of older persons in the population and their number are rising in every nation on earth. By the year 2030, one in six people around the world will be 60 or older. By this point, people over the age of 60 will reach 1.4 billion, up from 1 billion in 2020. By 2050, the number of individuals over 60 worldwide will double (to 2.1 billion). Between 2020 and 2050, the number of people 80 and older is anticipated to treble, reaching 426 million 1 . In 2020, there will be 727 million persons worldwide who are 65 or older. In 2050, this figure is anticipated