Prevalance and Distribution of Pain in Geriatric Patients

Aim: As older adult population increases, chronic diseases are increasing depending on age dramatically. Chronic pain is a common health problem in older adults. Furthermore, pain is not treated or under-treated because it is seen as part of the aging process by family members and clinicians. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of pain in older adults and pain rates according to body regions. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with 1078 patients who admitted to Geriatric Clinic. Patients were classified as pain, pain location, gender, body mass index, educational status, marital status, who they live with and the number of drugs they used . Pain prevalence and pain distribution were calculated from the data obtained. Results: The mean age of the patients in the study was 73.65±8.05 years. 70% (n = 750) of the patients had pain experience. The prevalence of pain in male participants was 45.6% (n = 131) and 78% in women (n = 619) (p <0.001). When all patients were analyzed, the most common pain sites are; knee (25.8%), widespread (24.1%) and low back pain (16.1%). The most common pain was widespread pain in women (26.6%) and knee pain in men (30.4%). Conclusion: Pain is frequently seen in geriatric patients. In our study, pain was more common in females than males. The three most common pain sites were; widespread, knee and low back pain in women; knee, low back pain and abdominal pain in men. It is important to evaluate the pain and to treat it adequately as it can cause a decrease in quality of life, impairment of cognitive functions, gait and balance problems, falling, sleep disorder and death