Chronic pain among community-dwelling elderly: a population-based clinical study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of the study population.

Table 1. Comparison of subjects with chronic pain and without chronic pain.

	Subjects with chronic pain (N = 175)	Subjects without chronic pain (N = 220)	p Value
Age, n (%)			0.57
75	102 (58)	139 (63)
80	40 (23)	42 (19)
85	33 (19)	39 (18)
Women, n (%)	129 (74)	110 (50)	≤0.001
Living alone, n (%)	83 (48)	82 (38)	0.051
Subjective income for daily living, n (%)			0.57
Good	52 (30)	77 (35)
Satisfactory	105 (61)	123 (56)
Insufficient	15 (9)	20 (9)
Subjective health capability, n (%)			≤0.001
Good	55 (32)	127 (56)
Satisfactory	85 (49)	82 (37)
Insufficient	33 (19)	11 (5)
Satisfactory moving capability, n (%)			≤0.001
Good	52 (30)	127 (58)
Satisfactory	64 (36)	74 (33)
Insufficient	59 (34)	19 (9)
Feeling lonely, n (%)			≤0.011
Often	25 (14)	14 (6)
Seldom	55 (32)	62 (28)
Never	93 (54)	144 (66)
Feeling sad, n (%)			≤0.005
Often	19 (11)	8 (4)
Seldom	78 (44)	88 (40)
Never	77 (45)	124 (56)
Feeling tired, n (%)			≤0.001
Often	75 (43)	51 (23)
Seldom	76 (44)	110 (50)
Never	22 (13)	59 (27)
Satisfied with life, n (%)			0.39
Often	150 (87)	200 (91)
Seldom	21 (12)	19 (9)
Never	2 (1)	1 (≤1)

Table 2. Comorbidities of subjects receiving home visit with chronic pain and without chronic pain.

	With chronic pain	Without chronic pain	p Value
	N (%)	N (%)
Cardiovascular diseases	123 (70)	134 (61)	0.052
Musculoskeletal diseases	107 (61)	72 (33)	<0.001
Endocrine diseases	73 (42)	84 (38)	0.48
Respiratory diseases	42 (24)	27 (12)	0.002
Neoplasms	15 (9)	18 (8)	0.89
Psychiatric diseases	11 (6)	13 (6)	0.88
Nervous system diseases	11 (6)	11 (5)	0.58

Table 3. Pain characteristics of the worst pain in 106 chronic pain patients by age group.

	Age group			p for linearity
	75 Mean (SD)	80 Mean (SD)	85 Mean (SD)
Average pain intensity	6.1 (1.6)	4.9 (1.5)	4.3 (1.2)	0.008
Maximal pain intensity	8.1 (1.4)	7.3 (1.5)	6.6 (1.9)	0.004
Pain interference	6.1 (1.9)	5.4 (2.2)	5.5 (1.4)	0.25