One-quarter to one-half of Americans age 65 or older experience pain, and many of them are not treated, according to a report by Internal Medicine News.
In a presentation at the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, experts said the consequences of pain in the elderly include mood disorders, sleep disturbances, decreased socialization, increased health care utilization and costs, limitations in activities of daily living, comorbidities and polypharmacy.
Barriers to treatment include fear of impairing judgment, creating an addiction, language and cultural barriers and adverse effects such as fear of falling, constipation and drug interactions.
Read the Internal Medicine News report on pain among older people.
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