Factors related to chronic pain in institutionalized elderly

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic pain is one of the main problems arising from the aging process. It may be related to multiple physical and even psychosocial causes, influencing quality of life and well-being of the elderly, especially those living in long-term care facilities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of chronic pain and related factors in institutionalized elderly. METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based study, carried out with 125 elderly individuals living in long-term care facilities. Data collection was carried out through an interview with a structured questionnaire, investigating, in addition to the presence of chronic pain, sociodemographic aspects, health conditions, subjective self-rated health, cognitive status, basic activities of daily life, risk of sarcopenia and presence of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 125 elderly people with 78.20±9.10 years old, of whom 64% were women. The prevalence of chronic pain in the population was 44%, and the factors related to it were the presence of rheumatic disease (p=0.000), low back pain (p=0.003), the use of polypharmacy (p=0.018) and being dependent when performing basic activities of daily living (p=0.029). CONCLUSION: The factors related to chronic pain in institutionalized elderly people were rheumatic disease, low back pain, polypharmacy and dependence to perform basic activities of daily living.