Factors Associated With Increased Pain Communication by Older Adults

Abstract

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.

Aromatherapy Hand Massage for Older Adults With Chronic Pain Living in Long-Term Care

“…All participants were living with chronic pain as determined by the unit nurses who identified the residents most likely to benefit from study participation; however, not all participants admitted pain at the time of the previous Minimal Data Set 3.0 pain interview. The literature supports this lack of congruence; Shea and McDonald (2011) found a lack of association between pain communication and pain intensity in older adults with osteoarthritis pain.…”

Self‐report pain assessment tools for cognitively intact older adults: Integrative review

“…Among multi-dimensional tools, three have been frequently used in the last decade: BPI-SF, the GPM, and the MPQ. All of the studies assessing the BPI-SF had adequate values of Cronbach’s alpha, indicating reliability in the relevant study populations (McDonald, 2009; McDonald, 2009; Shea & McDonald, 2011). The GPM was specifically designed for older adults in the US, and it has demonstrated good reliability and validity even in different language (Ferrell et al, 2000; Park et al, 2009).…”

“…The BPI is a multidimensional tool assessing pain intensity, activity-interfering pain, pain location(s), pain type(s), current pain medications, and degree of pain relief experienced in the past week. Due to the length of the BPI, the Short Form of the BPI (BPI-SF) was developed (McDonald et al, 2008; McDonald, 2009; McDonald, Shea, Rose, & Fedo, 2009; McDonald, Walsh, Vergara, & Gifford, 2013; Shea & McDonald, 2011). One randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of a chronic pain management program used two subscales from the BPI (i.e., pain intensity and pain interference) (Ersek, Turner, Cain, & Kemp, 2008).…”

Older Black Adult Osteoarthritis Pain Communication

“…Female gender was the single significant predictor of pain communication in a group of older adults with osteoarthritis pain. Pain intensity, pain interference with activities, race, ethnicity, and education level were not significantly related (Shea & McDonald, 2011). Practitioners should ask Black older adults with a history of painful osteoarthritis to tell them about any current pain problems.…”