Pain in older adults: A prevalence study in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia

Abstract

Although information is available about the prevalence of pain in older adults in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries, very little is known about older adults in other parts of the world. This study reports the prevalence of pain in a randomly selected sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia. Besides studying the existence of pain at the time of interview, the authors investigated several characteristics of the participants' pain experience: pain onset, number and location of pain sites, intensity of pain, number of days in pain, severity of pain, the extent to which pain interfered with daily life, and expressed needs in relation to pain. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of adults aged 65 years and over living in Catalonia. A total of 592 individuals participated in the study, and data was collected through personal interviews with participants. The prevalence of any pain was 73.5%, and similar across age groups but higher in females than in males. Among individuals suffering from pain, 94.2 were experiencing chronic pain (i.e., pain of three months' duration or more). The mean number of painful areas (out of 10) was 4.48. No clear pattern of the prevalence of regional pain was observed, although joints were the most frequently reported painful place. Pain interfered in the life of a considerable number of participants (35.5%), but no differences in the level of expressed needs was detected between those that were affected and those that were not. This study provides new evidence that pain is an important problem for the older adult, one that severely impacts on their health status, causing disability and reduced ability to function, particularly in older women.

The relationship between pain and physical activity in older adults that begin a program of physical activity

“…When examining the relation between occupation and type of physical activity, in all occupations (with the exception of the student), walking becomes the most common type of activity with values higher than 66% in all cases; statistically we found no significant differences between the distinct activities and occupation groups (p=0.232) (figure 6). Miró et al (2007) confirmed that in a population of older people 94.2% suffered chronic pain. All these data indicate the high prevalence of moderate and intense pain in old people, which has negative repercussions in carrying out the normal activities basic to daily life.…”

Chronic pain, depression symptoms and daily living independency level among geriatrics in nursing home

“…The main finding of this study is that >50% of the geriatric population in nursing homes reported chronic pain, which is in concurrence with previous reports. [16,17] Our results showed that pain severity and intensity increase with increasing age. Similarly, Leong et al, and Brochet et al reported that residents with chronic pain were older than those without pain.…”

Chronic pain, associated factors, and impact on daily life: are there differences between the sexes?

“…Women in Hong Kong reported more painful sites than men, besides a higher percentage of headaches 6 . Miró et al 34 also found that headache was significantly more common in women. In Spain, headache was more common in women (22.7%) and pain in the lower limbs more common in men (24.1%).…”

“…Evidence also suggests that women with chronic pain experience more depression than men 6,18,27,34,36 . Women are more emotional and more readily display their feelings of sadness caused by pain.…”