Pain Management in Older Adults Before and During the First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevalence, Trends, and Correlates
Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: There is limited knowledge on whether and how health care access restrictions imposed by the coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic have affected utilization of both opioid and nonpharmacological treatments among US older adults living with chronic pain. METHODS: We compared prevalence of chronic pain and high impact chronic pain (ie, chronic pain limiting life or work activities on most days or every day in the past 6 months) between 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (first year of pandemic) and utilization of opioids and nonpharmacological pain treatments among adults aged ≥65 years enrolled in the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized civilian U.S. adults. RESULTS: Of 12 027 survey participants aged ≥65 (representing 32.6 million noninstitutionalized older adults nationally), the prevalence of chronic pain was not significantly different from 2019 (30.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 29.7%-32.0%) to 2020 (32.1%; 95% CI, 31.0%-33.3%; p = .06). Among older adults with chronic pain, the prevalence of high impact chronic pain was also unchanged (38.3%; 95% CI, 36.1%-40.6% in 2019 versus 37.8%; 95% CI, 34.9%-40.8% in 2020; p = .79). Use of any nonpharmacological interventions for pain management decreased significantly from 61.2% (95 CI, 58.8%-63.5%) in 2019 to 42.1% (95% CI, 40.5%-43.8%) in 2020 (p < .001) among those with chronic pain, as did opioid use in the past 12 months from 20.2% (95% CI, 18.9%-21.6%) in 2019 to 17.9% (95% CI, 16.7%-19.1%) in 2020 (p = .006). Predictors of treatment utilization were similar in both chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain. CONCLUSION: Use of pain treatments among older adults with chronic pain declined in the first year of coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic. Future research is needed to assess long-term effects of coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic on pain management in older adults.
Language: English
Subfield: Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Yale University, Biogen, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, University of Connecticut, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Awards: G1384350020, G1759066555, Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on suicide in geriatrics patients with major depressive disorder: a nationwide cohort study using propensity score matching and instrumental variable analysis, G2744645890, Leveraging Physician Networks to Improve Care and Outcomes for Low-Income Populations, G4148822326, Associations of Opioid Prescribing with Long-term Functional Outcomes and Mortality Rates in Older Nursing Home Residents, G4883553062, G747006993, UNDERSTANDING HOSPITAL READMISSION RATES: PATIENT, HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY EFFECTS, G8313649646, G8475715394, G8559571055, G9000126140, Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award
OpenAlex ID: W4366988537