Prevalence, characteristics and treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards

Abstract Background Chronic pain is a frequent characteristic of elderly people and represents an actual and still poorly debated topic. Objective We investigated pain prevalence and intensity, and its pharmacological therapy in elderly patients hospitalized in 101 internal medicine wards. Methods Taking advantage of the “REgistro POliterapie Societa Italiana Medicina Interna” (REPOSI), we collected 2535 patients of whom almost a quarter was older than 85 years old. Among them, 582 patients were affected by pain (either chronic or acute) and 296 were diagnosed with chronic pain. Results Patients with pain showed worse cognitive status, higher depression and comorbidities, and a longer duration of hospital stay compared to those without pain (all p p p  = .172). Conversely, those not treated at admission who received an analgesic treatment during the hospital stay decreased their perceived pain ( p Conclusions Our results show the need to focus more attention on the pharmacological treatment of chronic pain, especially in hospitalized elderly patients, in order to support them and facilitate their daily life after hospital discharge.