Older age and risk for delayed abdominal pain care in the emergency department

Suboptimal acute pain care has been previously reported to be associated with demographic characteristics.

The aim of this study was to assess a healthcare system's multi-facility database of emergency attendances for abdominal pain, to assess for an association between demographics (age, sex, and ethnicity) and two endpoints: time delay to initial analgesia (primary endpoint) and selection of an opioid as the initial analgesic (secondary endpoint).

This retrospective observational study assessed four consecutive months' visits by adults (≥18 years) with a chief complaint of abdominal pain, in a UK National Health Service Trust's emergency department (ED). Data collected included demographics, pain scores, and analgesia variables.

Categorical data were described with proportions and binomial exact 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Continuous data were described using median (with 95% CIs) and interquartile range (IQR). Multivariable associations between demographics and endpoints were executed with quantile median regression (National Health Service primary endpoint) and logistic regression (secondary endpoint).

In 4231 patients, 1457 (34.4%) receiving analgesia had a median time to initial analgesia of 110 min (95% CI, 104-120, IQR, 55-229). The univariate assessment identified only one demographic variable, age decade ( P = 0.0001), associated with the time to initial analgesia. Association between age and time to initial analgesia persisted in multivariable analysis adjusting for initial pain score, facility type, and time of presentation; for each decade increase the time to initial analgesia was linearly prolonged by 6.9 min (95% CI, 1.9-11.9; P = 0.007). In univariable assessment, time to initial analgesia was not associated with either detailed ethnicity (14 categories, P = 0.109) or four-category ethnicity ( P = 0.138); in multivariable analysis ethnicity remained non-significant as either 14-category (all ethnicities' P ≥ 0.085) or four-category (all P ≥ 0.138). No demographic or operational variables were associated with the secondary endpoint; opioid initial choice was associated only with pain score ( P = 0.003).

In a consecutive series of patients with abdominal pain, advancing age was the only demographic variable associated with prolonged time to initial analgesia. Older patients were found to have a linearly increasing, age-dependent risk for prolonged wait for pain care.