[Pain in the elderly: prevalence and associated factors].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and the factors associated with pain in the Mexican elderly.


METHODS
Persons ages 50 years or older answered the question: "Do you often suffer physical pain?" Prevalences were obtained, after which multivariate analyses were conducted for the entire sample and for each age group to determine the associated factors.


RESULTS
Pain prevalence was 41.5%, more frequent in women (48.3% vs. 33.6%) and increased with age. There was a lower prevalence for persons with more education. Pain was directly associated with the report of arthritis, lung disease, falls, hypertension, depression, stroke, cancer history and problems with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living.


CONCLUSIONS
Pain is a common problem among elderly and is associated with some comorbidities.
Barragán-Berlanga
Abel Jesús
AJ
Clínica de Evaluación Geriátrica, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México.
Mejía-Arango
Silvia
S
Gutiérrez-Robledo
Luis Miguel
LM
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires