Abstract
Pain is common among older persons in nursing homes. Pain intensity, physical capacity, psychosocial function and pain beliefs have been studied, but their influence and interrelationship in Hong Kong older persons has seldom been investigated. This study provided an overview of pain beliefs and pain-related factors among older persons in nursing homes. The correlation between the factors was also explored. A total of 239 older persons were recruited from five nursing homes in Hong Kong. Methods. Pain situation, quality of life, psychosocial conditions, and pain beliefs were measured. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test, and correlation analysis. Results. There were 188 participants who reported having pain in the previous 6 months. Pain intensity was 3.18± 1.71 on a 0-11 scale. Quality of life and psychosocial condition in the pain group was significantly poorer than the non-pain group. All of the measured pain belief in terms of pain mystery, permanence, constancy and self-blame were positively correlated to depression and negatively correlated to both physical and mental health status. The pain beliefs on constancy, permanence and self-blame were positively correlated to pain intensity; the beliefs on mystery, constancy and self-blame were negatively correlated to happiness and life satisfaction, and positively correlated to loneliness. Conclusions. Pain belief plays an important role in pain besides pain intensity, quality of life and psychosocial status for local nursing home residents. This profile study serves as a reference for future studies of the systematic pain management approach in nursing home settings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 141-151 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Pain Management |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Elderly
- Nursing home
- Pain
- Pain belief
- Psychosocial
- Quality of life
