Characteristics of pain and comorbidities in geriatric subjects in Indonesia: A hospital-based national clinical survey

Abstract

Background. Pain is one of the most common health problems often experienced by the elderly. Research on pain and its comorbidities in elderly are crucial, because it relates to disability and impairment in quality of life. Unfortunately research related to pain in the elderly and co morbidities are still limited in Indonesia, better understanding about pain can be a vital consideration of treatment and drug consideration. This study was conducted to provide an overview of pain and its comorbidities in elderly. Materials and methods. This was an observational cross sectional study to 949 subjects. Subjects were recruited from outpatients neurology department in 10 big cities Hospitals in Indonesia. Data obtained from subjects who completed the self-made pain questionnaire and medical records. Subjects were characterized based on type of pain, location of pain, properties of pain, time of exacerbation, and comorbidities. All data were processed descriptively. Results and conclusion. A total of 949 subjects met the inclusion criteria. The subjects consist of 476 (50.16%) female and 473 (49.84%) male, with common age group between 60-74 years (80.08%). The Most common pain characteristic are mild pain intensity (46.79%), mixed type of pain (44.68%), chronic pain (64.59%), multiple site pain location (45.42%) and uncertain time pain exacerbation (37.40%). Six hundred and eighteen (65.12%) subjects have comorbidity and 331 (34.88%) without comorbidity. The most common comorbidity found were hypertension (41.31%) and diabetes (14.23%), with 561 (90.78%) subjects have 1 comorbidity. These study provide the overview of the geriatric problems especially in pain and the comorbidities so that the clinician can provide a comprehensive management of pain problems in geriatric.