Abstract
AbstractBackgroundChronic pain may cause increased complications and all-cause mortality. However, nationwide data on elderly patients receiving home healthcare (HHC) remain unknown. Therefore, we conducted this study to address this issue.MethodsWe identified elderly individuals (≥ 65 years) with chronic pain receiving HCC between 2002 and 2013 in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The comparisons of the causes of chronic pain, comorbidities, follow-up mortality, and the use of analgesics between two sexes and among three age subgroups were performed.ResultsA total of 1435 participants were identified, with a mean age of 77.8 ± 7.1 years and male percentage of 46.7%. The prevalence of chronic pain was 5.8%. Chronic pain was most prevalent in the 75–84 years age group (46.5%). Malignancy was the most common cause of chronic pain (94.2%), followed by peripheral vascular diseases (6.0%), osteoarthritis (4.3%), pressure ulcer (3.9%), spine diseases (3.1%), osteoporosis (1.3%), and headache (1.3%). The follow-up mortality was 32.8% within 6 month, 64.1% within 1 year, 79.9% within 2 years, and 84.3% within 3 years without difference in two sexes and age subgroups. Acetaminophen was found to be the most common analgesics, followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids. Morphine was the most commonly used opioid.ConclusionsThis study delineates the causes of chronic pain, use of analgesics, and follow-up mortality in the HHC elderly, clarifying the relationship between chronic pain and the HCC elderly. This will facilitate the further investigation of this issue in the future.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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