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AIM: To explore pain relief interventions used by older people with chronic pain in Hong Kong. The frequency and perceived effectiveness of non-prescription measures were also explored. BACKGROUND: With increasing life expectancy, the incidence of chronic illness and chronic pain also increases. Chronic pain robs older people of their quality of life. DESIGN: This was a descriptive qualitative study. RESULTS: Forty-four older people (37 female and seven male) who were residents of a nursing home in Hong Kong took part in this study. Their ages ranged from 65 to 82 years, median age was 75 years. Almost 80% had experienced moderate to severe pain during the previous three months. The most common sites of pain were muscles and joints; 35% of subjects reported continuous pain, 27% reported pain associated with activities of daily living, and 38% reported pain during exercise but not at rest. Only a few of the study group had taken prescribed medication to relieve pain, and only two of the 44 subjects studied had used a combination of drug and non-prescription intervention for pain relief. The majority of participants used non-prescription intervention only and the most commonly used were topical analgesics with massage. The majority (58%) of the subjects perceived the used of non-prescription intervention to be very effective in pain relief. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of pain was found to be high among older people in this study. Yet, they were taking a pro-active and responsible role in treating their chronic pain by using non-pharmacological patient-initiated intervention; also older people perceive themselves to have control over their pain status. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This active role of older people in their pain relief is likely to enhance the effect of education seminars and workshops aimed at novel, non-pharmacological pain relief strategies for older people with chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]