Prevalence, characteristics and treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards

摘要

BackgroundChronic pain is a frequent characteristic of elderly people and represents an actual and still poorly debated topic. ObjectiveWe investigated pain prevalence and intensity, and its pharmacological therapy in elderly patients hospitalized in 101 internal medicine wards. MethodsTaking advantage of the “REgistro POliterapie Società Italiana Medicina Interna” (REPOSI), we collected 2535 patients of whom almost a quarter was older than 85?years old. Among them, 582 patients were affected by pain (either chronic or acute) and 296 were diagnosed with chronic pain. ResultsPatients with pain showed worse cognitive status, higher depression and comorbidities, and a longer duration of hospital stay compared to those without pain (allp?