Elderly less likely to receive pain pills
All patients, regardless of age, deserve to have relief from pain, especially when it is severe, an American research author has revealed.
All patients, regardless of age, deserve to have relief from pain, especially when it is severe, an American research author has revealed.
The American study found people aged 75 years or older were less likely to receive any pain medication in hospital emergency departments than middle aged people between 35 and 54 years.
Lead author Dr Timothy Platts-Mills, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, admitted the research team was unsure as to why only 64% of older adults who report severe pain received pain medication, compared to 79% of middle-aged patients with the same level of pain.
According to Dr Platts-Mills, the group was actively investigating the side effects of commonly used pain medication and the impact of pain on functional outcomes after injury in older adults.
Results show 49% of patients aged 75 years and older received an analgesic (such as morphine, oxycodone, or ibuprofen), compared to 68.3% of middle-aged patients. Similarly, 34.8% of the elderly patients who participated in the study received an opioid (such as morphine or oxycodone) compared to 49.3% among the middle-aged.
Dr Platts-Mills explains the results may possibly be because “physicians are more concerned about potential side effects in this population”.
“To us, the gap we observe in pain management for older patients highlights the need to better understand how best to manage pain in older patients and understand the barriers to doing this,” he adds.
