Chronic pain and use of analgesics in the elderly: a nationwide population-based study

Chronic pain may cause many comorbidities in the elderly; however, nationwide data about this issue remain insufficient. We conducted this study to address the data gap.

We identified geriatric participants (≥ 65 years) with chronic pain between 2000 and 2013 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The causes of chronic pain and use of analgesics between two sexes and among three age subgroups were compared.

A total of 21,018 participants were identified with the mean age (standard deviation) of 72.7 years (5.6) and the female percentage of 50.8%. The prevalence of chronic pain in the elderly was 21.5%, and it was higher in the females than males. The proportions of each age subgroup were 65-74 (66.8%), 75-84 (29.4%), and ≥ 85 years (3.8%). Common causes of chronic pain were osteoarthritis (21.9%), spinal disorders (19.0%), peripheral vascular diseases (12.4%), and osteoporosis (11.4%). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most common medication, followed by acetaminophen and opioids. The most commonly used opioid was morphine. The use of opioids increased with age.

This study delineated the causes of chronic pain and use of analgesics in a geriatric population, which may help further studies about this issue in the future.