Huang Yu-Ling, Tsay Wen-Ing, Her Shwu-Huey, Ho Chung-Han, Tsai Kang-Ting, Hsu Chien-Chin, Wang Jhi-Joung, Huang Chien-Cheng
Department of Family Medicine, Madou Sin-Lau Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Arch Med Sci. 2020 Feb 11;16(3):627-634. doi: 10.5114/aoms.2020.92894. eCollection 2020.
Chronic pain may cause many comorbidities in the elderly; however, nationwide data about this issue remain insufficient. We conducted this study to address the data gap.
We identified geriatric participants (≥ 65 years) with chronic pain between 2000 and 2013 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The causes of chronic pain and use of analgesics between two sexes and among three age subgroups were compared.
A total of 21,018 participants were identified with the mean age (standard deviation) of 72.7 years (5.6) and the female percentage of 50.8%. The prevalence of chronic pain in the elderly was 21.5%, and it was higher in the females than males. The proportions of each age subgroup were 65-74 (66.8%), 75-84 (29.4%), and ≥ 85 years (3.8%). Common causes of chronic pain were osteoarthritis (21.9%), spinal disorders (19.0%), peripheral vascular diseases (12.4%), and osteoporosis (11.4%). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most common medication, followed by acetaminophen and opioids. The most commonly used opioid was morphine. The use of opioids increased with age.
This study delineated the causes of chronic pain and use of analgesics in a geriatric population, which may help further studies about this issue in the future.
慢性疼痛可能会在老年人中引发多种合并症；然而，关于这个问题的全国性数据仍然不足。我们开展这项研究以填补数据空白。
我们从台湾全民健康保险研究数据库中识别出2000年至2013年间患有慢性疼痛的老年参与者（≥65岁）。比较了两性之间以及三个年龄亚组之间慢性疼痛的病因和镇痛药的使用情况。
共识别出21018名参与者，平均年龄（标准差）为72.7岁（5.6），女性比例为50.8%。老年人慢性疼痛的患病率为21.5%，女性高于男性。各年龄亚组的比例分别为65 - 74岁（66.8%）、75 - 84岁（29.4%）和≥85岁（3.8%）。慢性疼痛的常见病因包括骨关节炎（21.9%）、脊柱疾病（19.0%）、外周血管疾病（12.4%）和骨质疏松症（11.4%）。非甾体抗炎药是最常用的药物，其次是对乙酰氨基酚和阿片类药物。最常用的阿片类药物是吗啡。阿片类药物的使用随年龄增长而增加。
本研究阐述了老年人群中慢性疼痛的病因和镇痛药的使用情况，这可能有助于未来对该问题的进一步研究。
