Background: Chronic pain is a frequent characteristic of elderly people and represents an actual and still poorly debated topic. Objective: We investigated pain prevalence and intensity, and its pharmacological therapy in elderly patients hospitalized in 101 internal medicine wards. Methods: Taking advantage of the “REgistro POliterapie Società Italiana Medicina Interna” (REPOSI), we collected 2535 patients of whom almost a quarter was older than 85 years old. Among them, 582 patients were affected by pain (either chronic or acute) and 296 were diagnosed with chronic pain. Results: Patients with pain showed worse cognitive status, higher depression and comorbidities, and a longer duration of hospital stay compared to those without pain (all p <.0366). Patients with chronic pain revealed lower level of independency in their daily life, worse cognitive status and higher level of depression compared to acute pain patients (all p <.0156). Moreover, most of them were not treated for pain at admission (73.4%) and half of them was not treated with any analgesic drug at discharge (50.5%). This difference affected also the reported levels of pain intensity. Patients who received analgesics at both admission and discharge remained stable (p =.172). Conversely, those not treated at admission who received an analgesic treatment during the hospital stay decreased their perceived pain (p <.0001). Conclusions: Our results show the need to focus more attention on the pharmacological treatment of chronic pain, especially in hospitalized elderly patients, in order to support them and facilitate their daily life after hospital discharge.

Corsi, N., Roberto, A., Cortesi, L., Nobili, A., Mannucci, P., Corli, O., et al. (2018). Prevalence, characteristics and treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, 55, 35-39 [10.1016/j.ejim.2018.05.031].

Prevalence, characteristics and treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards

Manzoni, F;Annoni, G;Bellelli, G;Zazzetta, S;Mazzola, P;Szabo, H;Brucato, A;Borghi, C;Sirico, D;Gasparini, F;Volpi, R;Harari, S;
2018

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain is a frequent characteristic of elderly people and represents an actual and still poorly debated topic. Objective: We investigated pain prevalence and intensity, and its pharmacological therapy in elderly patients hospitalized in 101 internal medicine wards. Methods: Taking advantage of the “REgistro POliterapie Società Italiana Medicina Interna” (REPOSI), we collected 2535 patients of whom almost a quarter was older than 85 years old. Among them, 582 patients were affected by pain (either chronic or acute) and 296 were diagnosed with chronic pain. Results: Patients with pain showed worse cognitive status, higher depression and comorbidities, and a longer duration of hospital stay compared to those without pain (all p <.0366). Patients with chronic pain revealed lower level of independency in their daily life, worse cognitive status and higher level of depression compared to acute pain patients (all p <.0156). Moreover, most of them were not treated for pain at admission (73.4%) and half of them was not treated with any analgesic drug at discharge (50.5%). This difference affected also the reported levels of pain intensity. Patients who received analgesics at both admission and discharge remained stable (p =.172). Conversely, those not treated at admission who received an analgesic treatment during the hospital stay decreased their perceived pain (p <.0001). Conclusions: Our results show the need to focus more attention on the pharmacological treatment of chronic pain, especially in hospitalized elderly patients, in order to support them and facilitate their daily life after hospital discharge.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Aging; Analgesic treatment; Chronic pain; Pain management; Undertreatment;
English
2018
55
35
39
none
Corsi, N., Roberto, A., Cortesi, L., Nobili, A., Mannucci, P., Corli, O., et al. (2018). Prevalence, characteristics and treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, 55, 35-39 [10.1016/j.ejim.2018.05.031].
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/470962
Citazioni
  • Scopus 24
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 4
Social impact