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Severity of chronic pain in an elderly population in Sweden—impact on costs and quality of life
- Source :
- Pain. 156:521-527
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 2015.
-
Abstract
- Chronic pain is associated with large societal costs, but few studies have investigated the total costs of chronic pain with respect to elderly subjects. The elderly usually require informal care, care performed by municipalities, and care for chronic diseases, all factors that can result in extensive financial burdens on elderly patients, their families, and the social services provided by the state. This study aims to quantify the societal cost of chronic pain in people of age 65 years and older and to assess the impact of chronic pain on quality of life. This study collected data from 3 registers concerning health care, drugs, and municipal services and from 2 surveys. A postal questionnaire was used to collect data from a stratified sample of the population 65 years and older in southeastern Sweden. The questionnaire addressed pain intensity and quality of life variables (EQ-5D). A second postal questionnaire was used to collect data from relatives of the elderly patients suffering from chronic pain. A total of 66.5% valid responses of the 10,000 subjects was achieved; 76.9% were categorized as having no or mild chronic pain, 18.9% as having moderate chronic pain, and 4.2% as having severe chronic pain. Consumed resources increased with the severity of chronic pain. Clear differences in EQ-5D were found with respect to the severity of pain. This study found an association between resource use and severity of chronic pain in elderly subjects: the more severe the chronic pain, the more extensive (and expensive) the use of resources. Funding Agencies|Grunenthal Sweden AB
- Subjects :
- Male
Aging
medicine.medical_specialty
Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper
Population
MEDLINE
Severity of Illness Index
Quality of life (healthcare)
Surveys and Questionnaires
Elderly population
Health care
Severity of illness
medicine
Humans
education
Aged
Pain Measurement
Aged, 80 and over
Sweden
education.field_of_study
business.industry
Age Factors
Klinisk medicin
Chronic pain
Health Care Costs
Basic Medicine
medicine.disease
Health Surveys
Age
Costs
Elderly
Intensity
Pain
Severity
Stratified sampling
Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Neurology
Quality of Life
Physical therapy
Female
Neurology (clinical)
Chronic Pain
Clinical Medicine
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 03043959
- Volume :
- 156
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Pain
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....22dede4b327847d0e71492cfedb5335b