TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Managing Persistent Pain in Older Adults A1 - Periyakoil, Vyjeyanthi S. A2 - Williams, Brie A. A2 - Chang, Anna A2 - Ahalt, Cyrus A2 - Chen, Helen A2 - Conant, Rebecca A2 - Landefeld, C. Seth A2 - Ritchie, Christine A2 - Yukawa, Michi PY - 2014 T2 - Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Geriatrics, 2e AB - Persistent pain is widely prevalent in older adults and is often underdiagnosed and ineffectively managed. Pain affects more than 50% of older persons living in a community setting and more than 80% of nursing home residents. Pain management disparities are common in older adults for a variety of reasons. Older adults are less likely to report pain owing to (a) a mistaken perception that pain is a normal part of the aging process, (b) not wanting to burden their caregivers, (c) cognitive impairment, and (d) limited health literacy. Even when older adults do report pain, they are less likely to receive opioid analgesics for moderate-to-severe pain and also report lower overall reduction of posttreatment pain scores compared to younger patients. It is also to be noted that any older adults may be reluctant to take opioids as they believe these class of drugs to be too potent, they are concerned about how these drugs may interact with the many other medications they are taking, fear of addiction and dependence, and worries about side effects of feeling “drugged.” Data also show that pain is commonly undertreated in cognitively impaired older adults, who receive less analgesic medication than younger cognitively intact persons. Pain limits functional status in older adults and can result in diminished quality of life, sleep disturbances, social isolation, depression, delirium, and increased health care costs and resource utilization (Table 54–1). SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1100069363 ER -