title: Analgesic use among nursing homes residents, with and without dementia, in Poland.
abstract: Many age-associated diseases are accompanied by pain. There is no doubt that pain is underrecognized among elderly nursing home residents and the diagnosing of pain is a real challenge in subjects with dementia. The aim of the study was to characterize analgesic use among nursing home residents and to delineate the putative associations between pain management and cognitive functions of elderly persons. The study involved 392 subjects (males:females - 81:311) with a mean age of 83.6±5.9 years. The residents' medical files in relation to diagnoses and drug consumption were analyzed, and the screening of cognitive functions was performed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). One hundred and thirteen residents (28.8%) received some analgesics. Among them 84 (21.4%) used them routinely, 25 (6.4%) - pro re nata (PRN) and four (1.0%) - both routinely and PRN. Non-opioid analgesics were taken routinely by 53 residents, weak opioids by nine subjects, and one person was receiving strong opioids. Additionally, three individuals were taking a combination preparation of tramadol and acetaminophen. The rate of subjects who were not receiving any pain treatment was higher in residents with MMSE between 0 and 9 points than in those with MMSE between 24 and 30 points (P=0.0151). Furthermore, ten residents (9.1%) with severe dementia were treated with analgesics PRN. The results of our study point to a remarkably low use of analgesics in nursing home residents in Poland and indicate a need to introduce pain evaluation and monitoring of drug treatment appropriateness as a standard procedure in the geriatric assessment in nursing homes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neumann-Podczaska
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Laboratory of Geriatrics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Laboratory of Neuropsychobiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suwalska
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Łojko
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Laboratory of Geriatrics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Roma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krzymińska-Siemaszko
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kozak-Szkopek
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Laboratory of Geriatrics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wieczorowska-Tobis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011044:Poland
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: Mini-Mental State Examination; analgesics; dementia; multimorbidity; pain; the elderly