According to a recent research published by University of California, About 20% of hospitalized older people expressed moderate to severe pain. Sometimes, it’s become difficult to manage pain among older patients due to unable to identify pain intensity. Therefore, Lisa X. Deng and colleagues designed a medical record aggregate review to determine pain-associated characteristics; prevalence and management among hospitalized older patients of a tertiary care hospital.

The older people of age 65 or older (Numeric Pain Rating Scale≥4) who admitted to hospital from 20 November 2014 to 20 May 2015 were selected for the study. The patients assessed for pain and demographic characteristics, comorbidity burden and painkillers during the index hospitalization. 

Only 248 patients out of 1,267 exhibited moderate to severe pain on hospital admission. Most of the patients obtained acetaminophen and opioids. Whereas, fewer patients obtained NSAIDs.  The patients with chronic pain exhibited less recovery from pain (p = 0.002) and received more adjuvant analgesics, analgesics and opioids (p<. 05) as compared to those who were without chronic pain history. As per results, one in five older adults suffered from moderate to severe pain. Further research for finding an optimal pain management approach is required for older patients, especially who are with chronic pain.