Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Pain Management in Elderly People

Pain Management in Elderly People Patient comfort and the control of pain are important goals in geriatric care. Pain is the most common symptom of disease and the most common complaint in physicians’ offices. 1 However, the management of chronic pain can be perplexing for physicians. With no objective biological markers for pain, assessment remains based on the patient's perceptions and self‐report, and these are often clouded by individual interpretation of sensation, affective reactions, and behavioral responses. Several studies have documented that many physicians and nurses lack information about pain assessment and may have an inaccurate knowledge base about common pharmacological agents used in pain control. 2–4 Consequences of pain are widespread in the elderly population. Depression, 5–7 decreased socialization, 7–8 sleep disturbance, 7 impaired ambulation, 7–9 and increased health care utilization and costs 9 have all been associated with the presence of pain among elderly people. Though less thoroughly explored, deconditioning, gait disturbances, falls, slow rehabilitation, polypharmacy, cognitive dysfunction, and malnutrition are among the many geriatric conditions potentially worsened by the presence of pain. Finally, pain and its management have major implications for quality of life and quality of care, especially for terminal patients 10 and residents of long‐term‐care facilities. 8 Pain http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of American Geriatrics Society Wiley

Pain Management in Elderly People

Download PDF
10 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/pain-management-in-elderly-people-hBqqBhpotn

References (90)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
1991 The American Geriatrics Society
ISSN
0002-8614
eISSN
1532-5415
DOI
10.1111/j.1532-5415.1991.tb05908.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Patient comfort and the control of pain are important goals in geriatric care. Pain is the most common symptom of disease and the most common complaint in physicians’ offices. 1 However, the management of chronic pain can be perplexing for physicians. With no objective biological markers for pain, assessment remains based on the patient's perceptions and self‐report, and these are often clouded by individual interpretation of sensation, affective reactions, and behavioral responses. Several studies have documented that many physicians and nurses lack information about pain assessment and may have an inaccurate knowledge base about common pharmacological agents used in pain control. 2–4 Consequences of pain are widespread in the elderly population. Depression, 5–7 decreased socialization, 7–8 sleep disturbance, 7 impaired ambulation, 7–9 and increased health care utilization and costs 9 have all been associated with the presence of pain among elderly people. Though less thoroughly explored, deconditioning, gait disturbances, falls, slow rehabilitation, polypharmacy, cognitive dysfunction, and malnutrition are among the many geriatric conditions potentially worsened by the presence of pain. Finally, pain and its management have major implications for quality of life and quality of care, especially for terminal patients 10 and residents of long‐term‐care facilities. 8 Pain

Journal

Journal of American Geriatrics Society – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 1991

There are no references for this article.