Analgesic use among nursing homes residents, with and without dementia, in Poland

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of study group

Characteristic	Mean ± standard deviation	Median; range
Age (years)	83.6±5.9	83; 75–102
Length of institutionalization (months)	64.4±64.4	43; 1–303
Number of diagnoses	2.5±1.3	2; 0–6
Number of used drugs	5.5±3.0	5; 0–13
MMSE (points)	15.4±9.3	17; 0–30

Abbreviation: MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination.

Table 2 Characteristics of regular pain treatment with respect to the MMSE results – group A MMSE results 24–30 points, group B (20–23 points), group C (10–19 points), group D (0–9 points)

Characteristic	Group A n=82	Group B n=67	Group C n=144	Group D n=99
MMSE (points)	24–30	20–23	10–19	0–9
No analgesics prescribed	62 (75.6%)	55 (82.1%)	122 (84.7%)	89 (89.9%)
			P=0.1097 vs group A	P=0.0151 vs group A
Routine step 1 (non-opioid)
Acetaminophen	0	0	1 (0.7%)	1 (1.0%)
NSAIDs	16 (19.5%)	12 (17.9%)	17 (11.8%)	6 (6.1%)
			P=0.1808 vs group A	P=0.0233 vs group A
Routine step 2 − tramadol (weak opioids)	2 (2.4%)	0	4 (2.8%)	3 (3.0%)
Routine step 3 − morphine (strong opioid)	0	0	0	1 (1.0%)
Acetaminophen + tramadol (one therapeutic formula)	2 (2.4%)	0	1 (0.7%)	0

Abbreviations: MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.