The aim of this study was to test how practitioners’ pain communication affects the pain information provided by older adults. A posttest only double blind experiment was used to test how the phrasing of practitioners’ pain questions, open-ended and without social desirability bias; closed-ended and without social desirability bias; or open-ended and with social desirability bias, affected the pain information provided by 312 community living older adults with osteoarthritis pain. Older adults were randomly assigned to one of the three pain phrasing conditions to watch and orally respond to a computer displayed videotape of a practitioner asking about their pain. All responded to a second videotape of the practitioner asking if there was anything further they wanted to communicate. Lastly all responded to a third videotape asking if there was anything further they want to communicate about their pain. Transcripts of the audio taped responses were content analyzed using 16 a priori criteria from national guidelines to identify important pain information for osteoarthritis pain management. Older adults described significantly more pain information in response to the open-ended question without social desirability. The two follow up questions elicited significant additional information for all three groups, but did not compensate for the initial reduced pain information from the closed-ended and social desirability biased groups. Initial use of an open-ended pain question without social desirability bias and use of follow-up questions significantly increases the amount of important pain information provided by older adults with osteoarthritis pain.

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The purpose of this secondary analysis study was to identify factors associated with increased pain communication by older adults. Data were obtained from 312 older adults with osteoarthritis pain. Content analysis was conducted using criteria from the American Pain Society’s “Guidelines for the Management of Pain in Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Juvenile Chronic Arthritis” to identify important pain management information described by the older adults in response to general questions about their pain. Gender was the only factor associated with increased pain communication from the predictor variables of age, education, gender, ethnicity, race, marital status, pain intensity, functional pain interference, treatment from a practitioner for arthritis and for pain, and pain relief. The lack of association between pain communication and factors such as pain intensity suggests that practitioners should routinely elicit specific pain information from older adults who have a history of chronic painful conditions such as osteoarthritis.

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