News

Differential risk of falls associated with pain medication among community-dwelling older adults by cognitive status Persons living with dementia have an elevated risk of falling and chronic pain. This study investigates the relationship of pain medication use with falls among community-dwelling adults based on their cognitive status. Differential risk factors for falls by cognitive status imply the need for tailored pain management and fall prevention strategies. The provision of fall prevention programmes stressing balance training and medication use is important regardless of cognitive status in community-dwelling older adults. Future research should explore other modifiable factors associated with the risk of [...]

Attention Pain Researchers, The NIH Pain Consortium has developed a webinar series on NIH grant mechanisms in pain research across career stages (training, transition and independent stages). The first webinar will be held on April 8, 2021, from 3:00pm-4:15 (U.S. Eastern time), and will focus on clinical mentoring grants. There will be nine more webinars on other grant types held over subsequent months; please see the schedule in the registration link or at the end of this email for the full list of topics and dates. The goal of this webinar series is to inform the pain research community of funding opportunities [...]

Severe functional limitation due to pain & emotional distress and subsequent receipt of prescription medications among older adults with cancer  Loss of functional independence is a major concern among older adults with multiple chronic diseases including cancer. Certain cancer types and subsequent treatment can cause or worsen pain and emotional distress, leading to functional limitation, which may or may not improve with cancer treatment. Previous studies using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to examine patterns of pain and emotional distress among older adults have shown that pain and emotional distress were notable concerns for this population. Despite its [...]

The Relationship Between the Pain Experience and Emotion Regulation in Older Adults Emotional states, such as depression and anxiety, play an important role in the pain experience. Fear of pain and catastrophic thinking about pain also have a negative impact on the pain experience and contribute to disability. Emotion regulation (ER) is the process of monitoring and evaluating emotional reactions and using strategies for altering when and how emotions occur. Commonly studied in the ER literature are the strategies of expressive suppression and reappraisal. Reappraisal involves changing the way one thinks about an emotional event while expressive suppression can involve [...]

Caring for patients with pain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Consensus recommendations from an international expert panel. Chronic pain causes significant suffering, limitation of daily activities and reduced quality of life. Infection from COVID-19 is responsible for an ongoing pandemic that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, leading to systemic complications and death. Led by the World Health Organization, healthcare systems across the world are engaged in limiting the spread of infection. As a result all elective surgeries, procedures, and patient visits, including pain management services, have been postponed or cancelled. This has impacted the care of chronic pain patients. Most are elderly with multiple comorbidities, which puts them at risk of COVID-19 [...]

Opioids in Older Adults: Indications, Prescribing, Complications, and Alternative Therapies for Primary Care. The fact that opioids are valuable tools for the management of pain has been known and used for thousands of years. Currently, millions of Americans are treated annually with opioids, and many of these patients are elderly. Opioids present risks to geriatric patients, some of which are unique to the population, and providers should have a good grasp of those risks. An understanding of how to select appropriate medications for the management of pain and of the myriad of alternatives available for pain management is vital to the care of older patients. This article [...]

Evidence-Based Role of Nutrients and Antioxidants for Chronic Pain Management in Musculoskeletal Frailty and Sarcopenia in Aging. Musculoskeletal disorders in aging and pain are closely connected because of multiple mechanisms leading to loss of mobility and autonomy. Pain is predictive of diability and worsening frailty and the strength of this relationship increases with the severity of pain. This study presents a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, cross sectional studies, and observational studies based on treatment of pain in adults with musculoskeletal disorders using nutritional non-pharmacological (nutrients and antioxidants) interventions. The review found the efficiency of the following topics: (a) accession of the patient to a dietary counselling (e.g., [...]

Opioids in Older Adults: Indications, Prescribing, Complications, and Alternative Therapies for Primary Care. Gazelka HM, Leal JC, Lapid MI, Rummans TA. The fact that opioids are valuable tools for the management of pain has been known and used for thousands of years. Currently, millions of Americans are treated annually with opioids, and many of these patients are elderly. Opioids present risks to geriatric patients, some of which are unique to the population, and providers should have a good grasp of those risks. An understanding of how to select appropriate medications for the management of pain and of the myriad of alternatives available for pain management is vital [...]

Caring for patients with pain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Consensus recommendations from an international expert panel. Chronic pain causes significant suffering, limitation of daily activities and reduced quality of life. Infection from COVID-19 is responsible for an ongoing pandemic that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, leading to systemic complications and death. Led by the World Health Organization, healthcare systems across the world are engaged in limiting the spread of infection. As a result all elective surgeries, procedures, and patient visits, including pain management services, have been postponed or cancelled. This has impacted the care of chronic pain patients. Most are elderly with multiple comorbidities, which puts them at risk of COVID-19 [...]