POPULATION-BASED STUDY OF PAIN IN ELDERLY PEOPLE - A DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY

Aim: to establish the prevalence of pain and persistent pain in an eld erly community-based population. Methods: an epidemiological study of pain complaints in a population-based sample of elderly people in Sout h-Western France. Results: among the 741 subjects, 530 (71.5%) reporte d pain somewhere, 244 (32.9%) persistent pain (defined as daily pain f or more than 6 months) and 241 (32.5%) reported episodic pain. The com monest locations were limb joints and back. The prevalence of pain was 44.5% for limb joints, 29.6% for back, 11.6% for neck and 11.3% for l imbs (joints excepted). The prevalence for persistent pain was 19.4% f or limb joints, 12% for back and 10.4% for limbs (joints excepted). Th e frequency of persistent pain increased slightly with age in both sex es but was higher in women. A higher prevalence of persistent pain in limb joints and back in women explained the difference. By contrast, t he prevalence of episodic pain was statistically higher in men over 75 , Conclusion: persistent pain is an important health problem in elderl y subjects.