TY - JOUR T1 - Health risk appraisal in older people 3: prevalence, impact, and context of pain and their implications for GPs JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 630 LP - 635 VL - 57 IS - 541 AU - Claudia Carmaciu AU - Steve Iliffe AU - Kalpa Kharicha AU - Danielle Harari AU - Cameron Swift AU - Gerhard Gillmann AU - Andreas E Stuck Y1 - 2007/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/57/541/630.abstract N2 - Background Pain is a common experience in later life. There is conflicting evidence of the prevalence, impact, and context of pain in older people. GPs are criticised for underestimating and under-treating pain.Aim To assess the extent to which older people experience pain, and to explore relationships between self-reported pain and functional ability and depression.Design of study Secondary analysis of baseline data from a randomised controlled trial of health risk appraisal.Setting A total of 1090 community-dwelling non-disabled people aged 65 years and over were included in the study from three group practices in suburban London.Method Main outcome measures were pain in the last 4 weeks and the impact of pain, measured using the 24-item Geriatric Pain Measure; depression symptoms captured using the 5-item Mental Health Inventory; social relationships measured using the 6-item Lubben Social Network Scale; Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and self-reported symptoms.Results Forty-five per cent of women and 34% of men reported pain in the previous 4 weeks. Pain experience appeared to be less in the ‘oldest old’: 27.5% of those aged 85 years and over reported pain compared with 38–53% of the ‘younger old’. Those with arthritis were four times more likely to report pain. Pain had a profound impact on activities of daily living, but most of those reporting pain described their health as good or excellent. Although there was a significant association between the experience of pain and depressed mood, the majority of those reporting pain did not have depressed mood.Conclusion A multidimensional approach to assessing pain is appropriate. Primary care practitioners should also assess the impact of pain on activities of daily living. ER -