Understanding pain among older persons: Part 1-the development of novel pain profiles and their association with disability and quality of life

作者：O'Sullivan Kieran^*; Kennedy Norelee; Purtill Helen; Hannigan Ailish

来源：Age and Ageing, 2017, 46(1): 46-51.

DOI：10.1093/ageing/afw131

• older people
• pain
• cluster analysis
• older adults
• disability
• quality of life

Background: while a range of variables are related to the impact of pain, most population studies of older persons have simply examined the presence or intensity of pain.
Objective: to develop novel pain profiles based on a range of pain variables, and compare demographic and health variables across profiles.
Methods: baseline data from The Irish LongituDinal study on Ageing (TILDA), a population-representative cohort study involving 8,171 community living people resident in Ireland aged 50 or over, was used. Two-step cluster analysis was performed on those who reported being often troubled by pain using all self-reported pain variables. Nine demographic and health variables were compared across pain profiles and the no-pain profile.
Results: of the cohort, 65% reported not often being troubled by pain. Of those troubled by pain, four profiles emerged ranging from the profile whose pain did not have impact on daily activities (12% of cohort) to the profile with everyone taking medication to control the pain (9% of cohort). All demographic and health variables differed significantly across the profiles (all P < 0.05) with pain profiles reporting significantly greater disability and poorer quality of life than the no- pain profile (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: four pain profiles, based on a range of pain variables, as well as a no-pain profile were identifiable in a large sample of older adults. Identifying those (i) with multi-site pain, (ii) who take pain medications and/ or (iii)whose pain affects daily activities clearly identifies those with the highest levels of disability and poorest quality of life.

• 出版日期2017-1