Pain and Multimorbidity in Late Life

Abstract

Purpose of ReviewTo characterize pain prevalence in older adults, particularly high-impact chronic pain, and examine the presence of multimorbidity and its relationship with and impact on chronic pain.Recent FindingsThis review found that chronic pain is highly prevalent in older adults; however, high-impact pain appears to be less prevalent based on recent studies. In addition, it was found that risk factors for multimorbidity and chronic pain experiences include causal factors (e.g., lifestyle, injury, medications and treatments, and/or surgery) and contributing factors (e.g., biological, psychological, and environmental). The consequences of both multimorbidity and chronic pain experiences include functional impairment, psychological distress, symptom severity and burden, medication use, decreased quality of life, and sleep disturbance.SummaryThis article addressed pain prevalence in older adults and the relationship between pain and multimorbidity. Risk factors and consequences of pain and multimorbidity were identified and recommendations for future research were provided.