Rheumatic diseases in the elderly: assessing chronic pain

This article discusses the assessment of chronic pain in older patients. First, the epidemiology and impact of chronic pain in the elderly are addressed. Next, common barriers to pain assessment are reviewed. An effective approach to pain assessment in the older patient is described, including the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRheumatic diseases clinics of North America Vol. 33; no. 1; p. 109
Main Authors Charette, Susan L, Ferrell, Bruce A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.2007
Subjects
Chronic Disease
Cognition Disorders - epidemiology
Comorbidity
Humans
Pain - diagnosis
Pain - epidemiology
Pain - etiology
Pain - physiopathology
Pain - psychology
Pain Measurement
Physical Examination
Rheumatic Diseases - complications
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Summary:This article discusses the assessment of chronic pain in older patients. First, the epidemiology and impact of chronic pain in the elderly are addressed. Next, common barriers to pain assessment are reviewed. An effective approach to pain assessment in the older patient is described, including the important pearls of history-taking and the physical examination, as well as recommendations for the evaluation of functional status and psychosocial well-being. The article concludes with a review of multidimensional and unidimensional pain assessment tools, and a discussion of methods for pain assessment in the cognitively impaired.
ISSN:0889-857X
1558-3163
DOI:10.1016/j.rdc.2006.12.009