Assessing the Relationship Between Chronic Pain and Frailty in Older Adults

Assessment of the Prevelance of Chronic Pain and Its Relationship to Frailty in Older Adults

Pain is an unpleasant emotional sensation related to one's past experiences, originating from a certain part of the body, due to tissue damage or not. Pain is the most commonly reported symptom in the elderly. Chronic pain is persistent or recurrent pain lasting more than 3 months. It is a maladaptive process or a disease that requires multimodal treatment that causes functional decline, independent of the healing process, accompanied by affective, cognitive and motivational disorders, and deterioration in quality of life. Frailty: It is defined as a clinical condition characterized by weakness, physical disability, functional regression, inadequacy in activities of daily living, and increased dependence, which develops as a result of the decrease in physiological reserves in the body with age. It has been reported that the risk of falls, disability, hospitalization and premature death is higher in the frail elderly. The prevalence of vulnerability in societies varies. Frailty rates ranging from 4 to 59% have been reported in developed and developing countries. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate whether there is a relationship between chronic pain and frailty in individuals aged 65 and over.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with chronic pain who are registered with a family medicine unit

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having an active malignancy,
• having a physical disability,
• being bedridden,
• having a psychotic disorder,
• having a cognitive disorder, and refusing to participate.