allison

A recent study published in Patient Education and Counseling examined older adults experiencing difficulties in “attaining personal goals due to disease symptoms such as pain, fatigue and reduced mobility.” The study consisted of 305 patients (mean age: 62 years) diagnosed with polyarthritis who participated in a questionnaire study that evaluated “self-efficacy in relation to goal management.” The authors found that “goal management strategies were found to be important predictors of successful adaptation to polyarthritis.” Full Story

The Journal, Rheumatology International recently featured a study that evaluated “the roles of sociocultural status, distress and cognitive functions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who developed methotrexate (MTX)-related neutropenia.” The study consisted of 74 (age 60 and older) older adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The Authors found that “low socioeconomical status and older age are associated with serious toxicity in RA patients using MTX” and that “measures should be taken to prevent wrong MTX dosing among patients.” Full Story

A recent study featured in Pain “compared an outpatient pain self-management (PSM) program, using cognitive-behavioural therapy and exercises, with 2 control conditions in 141 chronic pain patients aged 65years and older.” The authors found that “results immediately posttreatment indicated that relative to the Exercise-Attention Control (EAC) group, the PSM group was significantly improved on measures of pain distress, disability, mood, unhelpful pain beliefs, and functional reach.” Full Story

In Pain Management Nursing, a recent study evaluated the opinions of registered nurses regarding pain and the assessed need for pain medication for elderly patients through the use of questionnaires. The study consisted of 56 nurses municipal nursing homes and municipal home care. Full Story

A recent study published in Pain Management Nursing sought to enhance pain management in nursing homes via an integrated pain management program (IPMP) for staff and residents.  The Authors found that “IPMP was effective in enhancing the knowledge and attitudes of nursing staff, as well as reducing pain conditions and enhancing psychologic well-being for older persons in nursing homes.” Full Story

A recent review featured in Medscape Today, provides researchers and health professionals with a brief refresher regarding the proper methods for assessing pain among older adults. The review discussed methods for treating older adults patients with symptoms and conditions similar to the following case study: “Jane Jones is 72 years old and lives alone. She is quite active and likes to spend time outside. You often see her working in her garden when the weather allows or walking her dog. You haven't seen her recently, and you meet her one day as she comes out of her house. She tells you [...]

A recent study published in News Medical consisted of focus groups conducted by a panel of experts at Greenwich University in which individuals “were invited to provide their opinions on a range of self-help materials designed to give older adults advice and guidance on managing their pain.” Focus group participants were not required to “have specialist knowledge of health issues, but were required to have a broad interest in the subject of chronic pain and, in particular, how it affects the over-65 age group.” Full Story

A recent study in Medscape Today found that current pain assessment instruments should be modified in order to accommodate older adults. The author mentioned that, "Persistent pain affects 50% of individuals aged 65 and older. Our instruments for pain assessment and the content of curricula need to be geared to the unique challenges in older people." Full Story

On the website medpage.com,  a recent article addressed the problem of chronic pain among older adults. The authors found that "18.7 million (52.3%) adults, ages 65 to 69, reported bothersome pain within the last month as did 56% those ages 90 and up." Full Story

The Stanford School of Medicine recently featured a study on their SCOPE blog that discussed the possibility of using video games to bolster mental health capacity among older adults. Please see below for an excerpt from the study: "Much of the psychological research conducted on the impact of digital games has focused on the possible adverse effects of playing digital games. Contrary to these and other studies, the findings of the current investigation suggest that older adults who reported playing digital games score, on average, significantly better than non-digital game playing on measures assessing a number of domains of successful aging." [...]